Regional FHBs come out in droves for government scheme

23 NOV 2022 By Kyle Robbins 9 min read Finance

Since its introduction earlier this year, the Albanese government’s Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee scheme has assisted numerous Australians into home ownership.

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An election promise ratified once the Labor Party came into power, the program assists regional home buyers to purchase their home with a 5 per cent deposit as the government guarantees up to 15 per cent of the price. However, the catch is the prospective buyers must have lived in the region they intend to purchase in for over 12 months and meet income thresholds of earning less than $125,000 for singles and $200,000 for couples.

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According to federal Housing Minister Julie Collins, within two weeks of the scheme’s inception, it had assisted 1,000 regional first home buyers, with the first settlement under the program occurring in Queensland.

Regional Australians have felt the affordability pinch greater than most. Despite price decreases accelerating in recent months, characterised by a 1.7 per cent decrease in regional NSW property prices during October, such drops are yet to return prices to pre-pandemic levels.

For this reason, the scheme has received a wave of industry support since its inception.

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In September, Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) president Hayden Groves commended the scheme, yet did urge “programs like these must be implemented in tandem with the National Plan for Housing, which must focus on building more houses in Australia’s regions and stamp duty reforms that would help address affordability”.

His sentiments were shared by NAB executive of home ownership Andy Kerr, who said the scheme would support more Australians making tree changes more permanent. 

In addition to the federal government’s scheme, several state governments have introduced their own initiatives to help combat affordability and supply in Australia’s regions.

At the end of September, the Victorian government announced a Regional Affordable Housing Summit, which brought together “leads and decision-makers to overcome barriers and increase affordable housing across regional Victoria”.

The Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee scheme is a core component of a multi-pronged strategy initiated by the Labor government to tackle housing supply and affordability, which included a widely applauded National Housing Accord announced during the government’s first budget.

Under the accord, the government pledged to construct 1 million new, well-located homes with the aim of building “the affordable homes our country desperately needs and to help tackle our housing crisis”, according to Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

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