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Federal Housing Minister Julie Collins announced reforms to the scheme two days after the Prime Minister and state premiers agreed to investigate reforms to boost national housing supply.
Last year, the Albanese government announced the first iteration of the Home Guarantee Scheme, which offered 35,000 places to support first home buyers purchasing a home with as little as a 5 per cent deposit and 5,000 places to assist single parents with dependents to purchase a home with a deposit of as little as 2 per cent.
From 1 July this year, elements of the scheme — including the First Home Guarantee, the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee, and the Family Home Guarantee — will be expanded, with friends, siblings, and other families set to become eligible joint applicants under both the First Home Guarantee scheme and Regional First Home Buyer scheme.
Moreover, the programs will be expanded to non-first home buyers who haven’t owned an Australian property in the last 10 years, with the government hoping this increased allotment of the scheme will support those who’ve fallen out of home ownership, whether through financial hardship or relationship breakdown.
Ms Collins said, “These are sensible changes that will help ensure more families have a safe and secure place to call home.”
The build-to-rent proposal will support the transition from renting to home ownership, by providing the option to purchase the home after 10 years, at which point the tenant would have accumulated a 20 per cent deposit coupled with a share of the capital growth.
Construction of the one, two, and three-bedroom homes is due to commence in December, subject to approvals.
Ms Collins said this was a “stepping stone to the security of home ownership.”
“Too many women across Australia don’t have access to safe and secure housing,” Ms Collins said.
“This is an important step in changing that for women in Canberra.”
Under the concept, an affordable rental of 74.9 per cent of the market rate would be set and a savings plan created for the potential buyer.
CHC plans to acquire the site to develop the homes and maintain the program on a long-term basis.
It marks the first program to be announced in the ACT following the federal government’s widening of the National Housing Infrastructure Facility (NHIF) to fund social and affordable housing.
Government expands Home Guarantee
It also follows the federal government expanding the criteria of the Home Guarantee Scheme in an attempt to address the housing affordability crisis.
The changes will see eligibility criteria expanded for the First Home Guarantee, the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee, and the Family Home Guarantee.
From 1 July 2023, friends, siblings, and other family members will be eligible for joint applications under the First Home Guarantee and the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee.
The changes also mean permanent residents and previous home owners will be able to access the schemes.
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