First Home Guarantee FAQs

For the First Home Guarantee, you need to save a minimum deposit of 5% of the property value.

The deposit requirement For the First Home Guarantee is 5% of the property value.

Property value is assessed by the Participating Lender, and it may be different to the purchase price. In those situations, please speak to your Participating Lender about what this means for you.

For FY2025/2026, there are 35,000 places for the First Home Guarantee.

For the First Home Guarantee, you can be a first home buyer or a home buyer who hasn’t owned a property in Australia in the last 10 years.

For the First Home Guarantee, you can apply on your own or with one other person, such as a partner, friend or family member. If you apply with another person, then you both need to meet the eligibility criteria.

If you are applying on your own, your taxable income can be up to $125,000 a year.

If you are applying with another person, then your combined taxable income can be up to $200,000 a year.

You’ll need to provide the Participating Lender with your Notice of Assessment issued by the Australian Taxation Office for the previous financial year.

Maximum price caps apply, are the same for all Guarantees, and vary by location. Note both the property purchase price and the property value must not exceed the price cap. For new builds with land and a separate build contract, the combined land purchase price and build cost must also stay under the cap.

Property value is assessed by the Participating Lender, and it may be different to the purchase price. In those situations, please speak to your Participating Lender about what this means for you.

Use the Postcode Search Tool (link) on this website to check the price cap for the location you want to buy in. The tool is only a guide - confirm the price cap with your Participating Lender for any property you are considering buying.

You can buy a new or existing residential property that you will live in as an owner-occupier.

The Guarantee stays in place until one of the following happens:

• it becomes evident at any time that your home loan was not eligible for the First Home Guarantee
• you stop living in the property without an exemption (circumstances to be discussed with your Participating Lender); if so your Participating Lender may require you to pay LMI or other significant costs relating to your loan
• you rent out the property
• you have fully repaid your home loan, including refinancing with a lender that is not a Participating Lender
• your loan principal balance drops to 80% or less of the property value, based on your scheduled home loan repayments (prepayments you can redraw are not counted)
• you borrow additional funds against the property from your Participating Lender, or
• you sell your home.

You can apply through a Participating Lender authorised by Housing Australia to offer the Home Guarantee Scheme.

They will assess your eligibility based on their lending criteria, guide you through the application process, and explain the documents and information to provide. They will submit an application to Housing Australia and inform you if you are eligible and if a place is available for you under the First Home Guarantee.

The Participating Lender will let you know what documents and information they need for your application, which will include:

• your full name and date of birth
• your Medicare number (including your position on the card) or PMKeys (if relevant)
• your Notice of Assessment for your taxable income for the previous financial year.
• a completed Home Buyer Declaration (the form is available from your Participating Lender).
• other details to help the lender determine your eligibility for the First Home Guarantee – your Participating Lender will confirm what these are.