From Saturday 1 October 2022, 10,000 new places will be available under the Australian Government’s Home Guarantee Scheme (HGS), helping thousands more Australians living in regional areas to enter the housing market sooner.
The new Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee (RFHBG) supports eligible first home buyers living in regional areas* to purchase a modest home in a regional area with a deposit of as little as five per cent.
To be eligible, home buyers (or at least one borrower when applying as a couple) must have lived in the regional area or adjacent regional area they are purchasing in, for the preceding 12-month period to the date they execute their home loan agreement.
Australian Defence Force members may be eligible for a partial exemption. Other eligibility and lender’s criteria, as well as HGS property price caps, apply.
The introduction of the RFHBG increases the total number of HGS places to 50,000 for the 2022-23 financial year. Home buyers who are not eligible for the RFHBG may be eligible for the First Home Guarantee or the Family Home Guarantee. Home buyers should discuss their individual circumstances with a participating lender.
From Saturday, regional home buyers can access detailed information about the RFHBG on the Housing Australia website. Interested regional first home buyers will be able to check eligibility, search the areas they are able to purchase in, as well as the applicable property price caps. An Information Guide and Fact Sheet will also be available.
If you are interested to apply for the new Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee from 1 October 2022, please get in touch with us.
* A regional area is defined as Statistical Area Level 4 (ASGS SA4 2016) areas in a State or the Northern Territory that are not a capital city of that State or Territory; and Norfolk Island; or the Territories of Jervis Bay, Christmas Island or Cocos (Keeling) Islands; as defined in the version published by The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in July 2016. The ACT and greater capital city areas of each State and the Northern Territory are excluded from the RFHBG. SA4s are based on population density and labour markets; they vary in size reflecting these criteria.
