First home buyer scheme to offer 5% deposit
The Government has released a draft for a scheme to allow first home buyers to purchase a house with a deposit of as little as 5%.
The National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) Investment Mandate Amendment (First Home Loan Deposit Scheme) Direction 2019 would support up to 10,000 loans each financial year, starting from 1 January, 2020, an announcement by the minister for housing and assistant treasurer, Michael Sukkar, said.
Eligible single applications would need to have a taxable income of up to $125,000 per annum and up to $200,000 for couples. The scheme would also apply to owner-occupied loans on a principal and interest basis.
The scheme also included property price caps under the scheme in capital cities, regional areas, and large regional centres with a population over 250,000 such as the Gold Coast, Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, the Sunshine Coast, Illawarra (Wollongong) and Geelong.
The announcement noted that the scheme was in conjunction with the First Home Super Saver Scheme, the $1 billion local infrastructure investment, and the release of suitable Commonwealth land for housing development.
“These incentives have helped thousands of first home buyers enter the market. In the past year, around 110,000 Australians bought their first home – the highest level since 2009,” it said.
Stakeholders would have until 4 November to comment on the draft Investment Mandate Amendment.
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