6 January 2023

A new year and a new home for hundreds of regional Australians

Hundreds of Australian families will spend the new year in a new home after the Albanese Government brought forward the launch of the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee.

Just three months after the Guarantee’s launch on 1 October 2022, almost 1,200 Australians have already been able to purchase a new home in regional Australia with help from the Government.

The Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee provides a government guarantee of up to 15 per cent for eligible first home buyers, so regional Australians with a deposit of as little as 5 per cent can avoid paying lenders’ mortgage insurance.

The Albanese Government delivered the commitment three months early to help more Australians into a home. This targeted support assists regional Australians into home ownership sooner and helps with the cost of living.

Australians living in regional areas have faced some of the largest drops in housing affordability, making it increasingly hard for locals to save a sufficient deposit.

The Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee is just one part of the Albanese Government’s ambitious housing reform agenda.

Last month the Government released draft legislation to establish the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, Housing Australia and the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council.

Returns from the Housing Australia Future Fund will deliver the Government’s commitment of 30,000 new social and affordable homes in the fund’s first five years, including 4,000 homes for women and children impacted by family and domestic violence or older women at risk of homelessness.

An interim National Housing Supply and Affordability Council commenced on 1 January to start delivering immediate advice to Government and is intended to operate until the Council is established permanently in legislation.