The First Home Loan Deposit Scheme (FHLDS) allows first home loan buyers to buy a home with a deposit of as little as 5 per cent.
The FHLDS helps first home buyers to purchase a home sooner by providing a guarantee that will allow you to purchase a home with a deposit of as little as 5 per cent without needing to pay for lenders mortgage insurance.
Below is a bit more info, in a nutshell!
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about the FHLDS by now. Details have been filtering through slowly from the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) and participating lenders.
The Scheme commenced on 1 January 2020 for the participating major bank lenders and on 1 February for the non-major lenders.
Am I eligible for the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme?
As your broker, we will work with you to find out if your particular circumstances make you eligible for the scheme and if not, what measure you can take to potentially ensure your eligibility as a first home buyer.
There are a range of eligibility criteria for the Scheme that cover:
- Borrower eligibility – normal serviceability criteria will need to be met, along with the bank determining your genuine savings over a 3-month period (i.e. you must have genuinely saved at least 5% of the purchase price). You must also be under the income threshold which is $125k pa for a single applicant and $200k for couples
- Loan eligibility – The loan must be from one of the participating lenders
- Property eligibility – there are property value thresholds which differ from state to state. Click https://www.nhfic.gov.au/what-we-do/fhlds/property-price-thresholds/ to find out what your threshold is.
What is the guarantee?
The Australian Government provides a guarantee on the loan. The guaranteed amount is the difference between the first home buyer’s deposit (of at least 5 per cent) and 20 per cent of the value of the eligible property. It is similar to parental or family guarantees which already exist, but in this case NHFIC acts as the guarantor. The guarantee is NOT a cash payment or a deposit for your home loan.
Who are the Scheme lenders?
Major bank lenders:
- National Australia Bank
- Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Non-major 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
Information about the Scheme is available on The National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) website, including online tools to assist prospective first home buyers determine their potential eligibility and identify the relevant property price threshold that will apply to any potential purchases.
What’s the process?
We will submit your loan as per normal to one of the participating lenders. The lender will then apply to the NHFIC on your behalf and your request for eligibility will go into a queue for assessment and approval. If you’re a successful applicant, you’ll then have 3 months in which to buy and exchange (i.e. lock in your contract) on a property. If you take longer than 3 months to exchange on a property, you will lose your spot and will need to re-apply, at which point there will be no guarantees of successfully being approved for the scheme again.
What do I need to do now?
If you are a first home buyer, make an appointment with us as soon as possible so that we can assess your situation and your eligibility for the Scheme. If you are eligible, we will need to secure a Scheme place for you assuming one is available at the time.
Once a reservation is made as a single or as a couple, it can only be changed by withdrawing and making a new application. There are only 10,000 guarantees allocated each financial year so secure yours today. Given the 110,000 first home buyers each year, you’ll have at best a 9% chance of securing a FHLDS assisted loan.
