What you should know about the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme
The First Home Loan Deposit Scheme (FHLDS) is an Australian Government program that provides a guarantee which will allow eligible first home buyers to buy a home with a deposit of as little as 5% without paying Lender’s Mortgage Insurance (LMI).
Lenders usually require a 20% deposit or make borrowers with smaller deposits pay for LMI to cover the risk of lending to them. Under the program, if a first home buyer has saved 5% of the purchase price of a home, the government can guarantee the remaining 15% of the deposit. It is comparable to parental or family guarantees, where the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation acts as the guarantor.
Since commencing on the 1st of January 2020, 3,000 potential first home buyers have registered for the scheme. A further 7,000 places will be made available from the 1st of February, and an additional 10,000 places for the next financial year being made available from July 2020.
Eligibility requirements for the scheme include:
- The mortgage needs to be for an owner-occupied property
- Repayments must be principal and interest
- Individuals need to earn under $125,000 per year, or $200,000 combined for couples
- The value of the property may not exceed caps that apply to different cities and regions (see the full list here)
Visit the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation website for more details, including a full list of the eligibility requirements.
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