How government scheme will boost first-home buyers

First home buyers and single parents struggling to save for a deposit will be given a new shot to get into the market.

Thousands of aspiring first home buyers who missed the chance to enter the property market during the Covid crisis will be given a second chance to buy with the backing of a government guarantee.

Under the federal schemes, which allow first home buyers and single parents to buy their own homes with deposits of as little as five per cent and two per cent respectively, almost 40,000 Australians have bought property since the start of last year.

But 4651 potential buyers did not use guarantees for which they had been approved during the past financial year.

Housing Minister Michael Sukkar. Picture: David Geraghty

During a visit to Melbourne and Geelong on Thursday, Scott Morrison will announce that their guarantees will now be extended until June 30 next year.

“We want more first-home buyers to get into the place of their dreams,” the Prime Minister said.

“The pandemic and lockdowns have interrupted the plans of many home buyers this year, so this is about ensuring we give thousands more families the opportunity they need.”

“We want to help Australians into their first home or a home that they’ve had built for them and their family, and with our support first home buyers are at their highest level in nearly 15 years.”

A recent report into the government’s deposit schemes found they helped home buyers bring forward their purchases by an average of four years.

Scott Morrison will announce that federal schemes for first home buyers will be extended until June 30 next year. Picture: Damian Shaw

One in five successful applicants were essential workers, 58 per cent were aged under 30 and 52 per cent were women, compared to a market-wide average of only 41 per cent.

Housing Minister Michael Sukkar said the data showed the government was “on the side of essential workers, women and young Australians as they make the leap into home ownership”.

“The Morrison government will continue to provide Australians who have that aspiration to go and buy a home, the opportunity to go and achieve that,” Mr Sukkar said.

Stephanie Asher, the Liberal candidate in Corangamite who will campaign with Mr Morrison on Thursday, said the guarantee schemes had supported 577 families in the Geelong area.

“With so many young people and families moving to Geelong, the Surf Coast and the Bellarine, this is about making it easier to make home ownership a reality,” Ms Asher said.

Originally published as How government scheme will boost first-home buyers