The First Home Guarantee Scheme: Unlocking Ownership.
Have you heard about the First Home Guranatee Scheme and
wondering how you can get a piece of that action? Or perhaps you’re struggling with information overload for first time home buyers and you just want a couple of straight answers about if you are eligible to apply.
In this guide you’ll only get straight answers about the Guarantee Scheme and written in plain English. You can thank us later!
First Home Guarantee Scheme in a competitive Market
The rising market pressures have presented a considerable challenge for First Homeowners as properties’ escalating values surpass their saving capacity. For those entering the housing market for the first time, having a pre-approved First Home Guarantee Scheme can enhance their competitiveness when vying for the property they aspire to purchase.
Under normal circumstances, Purchasing your first home, you would need to have a 20% deposit, or you would have to pay them Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI), which can be thousands of dollars. The First Home Guarantee Scheme, originally called the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, allows just 5% without the Mortgage Insurance. The Guarantee allows First homeowners to enter the market early and have a better chance of purchasing a home. The grant enables the applicant to find a property in a competitive market.
Lenders started offering the Grant to First Home Owners as of April 4th, 2020; it has now been renamed First Home Guarantee. :
We can contact your bank on your behalf and see if they offer the extension should finding a property be challenging and the pre-approval run out of time.
Note: some banks may not approve the extension if you are only a few days away from the expiration day of their pre-approval offer. Get in touch today to make sure you get all the deadlines.
The Australian Government introduced the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme to help people enter the property market more efficiently. It’s not a grant. The Government won’t give you money to help you save up your initial deposit. They will cover the mortgage insurance to the lenders. An approved loan under this scheme is treated as if the applicant has a 20% deposit.
Instead, the Guarantee helps you save thousands of dollars and start your home loan application with a deposit of as little as 5%.
It all comes down to bypassing the Lender’s Mortgage Insurance, which is charged for any loan with a deposit of less than 20%.
With the FHLDS, the Government is now guaranteeing 35,000 low-deposit loans each year from January 1st, 2020. Participating banks and lending institutions guarantee that they won’t charge LMI or increase their home loan interest rates for applicants.
Am I Eligible for The First Home Guarantee Scheme
This scheme is mainly for low to middle income earners who are Australian citizens.
To be eligible for the FHLDS you must meet these criteria:
- Australian citizen or a permanent resident
- At least 18 years of age
- Income test for singles and couples, single applicants income up to $125,000 per year and total income for a couple is $200,000.
- MUST be a first home buyer
- You intend to live in the property (it can’t be for investment)
- If applying as a couple you must be married or de-facto
- You have 5% deposit saved
Eligibility Checklist for Singles: https://www.nhfic.gov.au/single/
Eligibility Checklist for Couples: https://www.nhfic.gov.au/couple/
How to Apply for the FHLDS
At Morgan Finance WA, we can help you with every step of the application. We can also help you see if you’re eligible and also to choose which lender is the best to go with. We know how hard it can be to decide which lender is the right one for you!
On the other hand, you can also apply directly at a bank or lending institution for the grant participating lender. There are currently 32 lenders which offer guarantees under the Scheme (including a guarantee that they won’t charge higher interest rates for FHLDS home buyers).
First Home Gurantee Scheme Banks & Lenders
Major Bank Lenders
- Commonwealth Bank of Australia
- National Australia Bank
- Westpac bank
Smaller Lenders
- Australian Military Bank
- Auswide Bank
- Bank Australia
- Bank First
- Bank of us
- Bendigo Bank
- Beyond Bank Australia
- Community First Credit Union
- CUA
- Defence Bank
- Gateway Bank
- G&C Mutual Bank
- Indigenous Business Australia
- Mortgageport
- MyState Bank
- People’s Choice Credit Union
- Police Bank (including the Border Bank and Bank of Heritage Isle)
- P&N Bank
- QBANK
- Queensland Country Credit Union
- Regional Australia Bank
- Sydney Mutual Bank and Endeavour Mutual Bank (divisions of Australian Mutual Bank Ltd)
- Teachers Mutual Bank Limited (including Firefighters Mutual Bank, Health Professionals Bank, Teachers Mutual Bank and UniBank)
- The Mutual Bank
- WAW Credit Union
Start your First Home Guarantee Scheme application today, Lenders still have available positions.
Get in touch with our experienced team at Morgan Finance WA to start your FHLDS application today!
