First Home Guarantee 

(Formally the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme)

You could buy your first home sooner

Saving a deposit for your first home can be challenging.


This scheme allows you to get into the housing market without having to pay expensive Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) or having to save up 20% deposit plus costs.

You can get into the market with only a 5% deposit (plus any costs) without paying LMI.

The scheme allows first home buyers who can’t reach the 20% deposit to take out a loan as long as they have saved at least 5% of the property they are buying.

The government will underwrite the loan so that borrowers do not have to pay LMI.


What is the First Home Guarantee?

The First Home Guarantee is an initiative from the Australian Government designed to support eligible first home buyers purchase a home sooner.

The National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) provides a guarantee for eligible first home buyers on low and middle incomes so that they can purchase a home with a deposit of as little as five percent.

The Australian Government has made 35,000 First Home Guarantee places available for the current financial year through a panel of participating lenders.

Under the First Home Guarantee, you're required to contribute a minimum of five percent of the property’s value towards the deposit. NHFIC then provides a guarantee to the lender covering up to 15% of the property’s value.

What is the Family Home Guarantee?

The Family Home Guarantee is an Australian Government initiative designed to support single parents with at least one dependent child in purchasing a family home.


The NHFIC provides a guarantee for eligible single parents on low and middle incomes so that they can purchase a home to live in with a deposit of as little as two percent, regardless of whether the single parent is a first home buyer or a previous home owner.


The Australian Government has made 5,000 Family Home Guarantee places available for the current financial year through a panel of participating lenders.

Under the Family Home Guarantee, you're required to contribute a minimum of two percent of the property’s value towards the deposit. The NHFIC then provides a guarantee to the lender covering up to 18% of the property’s value.

Are you eligible for the First Home Guarantee, Family Home Guarantee or Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee?


For the Home Guarantee Scheme, you can check your eligibility on the NHFIC website. The following conditions will generally apply:


  • Australian citizens who are at least 18 years of age. Permanent residents are not eligible
  • Applicants must not have previously owned or had an interest in a residential property, either separately or jointly with someone else (this includes residential strata and company title properties, regardless of whether it was an investment or owner-occupied property and whether it was ever lived in). Family Home Guarantee applicants are allowed to have previously owned a home, however they must not currently have a freehold interest in property (this includes land)
  • Only singles with a taxable income of up to $125,000 per annum and couples with a combined taxable income of up to $200,000 per annum may be eligible (taxable income as shown on the Notice of Assessment issued by the Australian Taxation Office)
  • For the First Home Guarantee and Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee, couples are only eligible if they are married or in a de facto relationship. Other persons buying together, including siblings, parent/child or friends, are not eligible
  • For the Family Home Guarantee, the applicant must be a single parent with at least one dependent child.
  • The Guarantee will only apply to Owner Occupied home loans paid on a principal and interest basis (investment properties and Interest Only loans are excluded). If the loan relates both to the purchase of vacant land and to the construction of a house, the loan may still be eligible even if the terms of the construction loan agreement permit Interest Only payments for the partially funded period
  • For the First Home Guarantee and Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee, applicants must have a deposit of between five percent and 20% of the property’s value. For the Family Home Guarantee, applicants must have a deposit of between two percent and 20%
  • For the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee, at least one applicant must have lived in the region (ASGS SA4 2016) or an adjacent region for the entire previous 12 months
  • Refer to the NHFIC Regional Checker to see if your postcode is eligible under the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee
  • Your maximum property purchase price is subject to the suburb and postcode of your new property. You can check the property price threshold for your property’s suburb and postcode using NHFIC’s property price threshold tool.


  • You can only use the Guarantee once for the settlement of a home. If you were unable to purchase a property in the required timeframe, you may be able to make a new place reservation.

Did you know you can apply and use more than one of the First Home Buyer schemes combined?

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