HOST:
Julie Collins. Good morning.
JULIE COLLINS:
Good morning. And to your listeners this morning.
HOST:
There we go. Fantastic. First of all, Minister, what are the requirements to be eligible for this guarantee?
COLLINS:
Well, there are income thresholds for people in terms of singles and couples with their income. There's also a purchase limit. What we wanted to do was target it really specifically to middle and low income owners to make sure that we didn't increase house prices, but that we provided practical support to those that need it most.
HOST:
And this is a regional first home buyer guarantee. So, what do you mean by regional, exactly?
COLLINS:
Well, it can't be in the major cities, so it is up to $450,000 purchase price in regional Tasmania. So, it's essentially outside Greater Hobart.
HOST:
Okay.
COLLINS:
We've helped now over 190 Tasmanians in the first year through the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee, which is part of the broader Home Guarantee Scheme, which has helped almost 1000 Tasmanians into their first home in many cases. But we've also made changes to open it up to people that haven't owned a home for more than a decade.
HOST:
Are they the only changes, because you did make a few changes?
COLLINS:
We did indeed. We also allowed it not just to be couples, but family members, friends, to make sure that people could be as flexible as possible, because we know that a lot of people are finding it difficult to get into homeownership. We also made some changes around foster children and guardianship to allow people who have the care of a young person to be eligible.
HOST:
Now, you mentioned over 190 Tasmanians making the most of the program. Is that kind of on par with what you're expecting?
COLLINS:
Well, we had allocated 10,000 places for the first year nationally and we've reached that, so that's terrific, in terms of people entering into the scheme. What we want to do, of course, is help as many people as possible. But we do cap the scheme at a certain number nationwide to make sure that we don't add to house prices because these are targeted programs across the scheme. Altogether there's 50,000 places.
HOST:
So, is this scheme ongoing? Can people still take advantage?
COLLINS:
It is ongoing, that's correct, yes. So, people can, through their normal lenders, ask about the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee, which is where the Federal Government does provide that 15 per cent guarantee of the 20 per cent deposit required. So, with as little as 5 per cent, people can get into homeownership.
HOST:
And where can our listeners get more information?
COLLINS:
Well, it can be on the government website, the National Housing Finance Investment Corporation website, or they can just talk to their normal lenders through their lenders. Most of the larger lenders across the country and the smaller banks are part of the government scheme.
HOST:
Perfect.
HOST:
All right, Minister Collins, thanks so much.
HOST:
For your time this morning.
COLLINS:
Thank you for having me on.