Help to Buy Scheme: First Home Buyers Guide 2026

What Is the Help to Buy Scheme?

The Help to Buy scheme is a shared equity program run by the Australian Government that lets eligible home buyers purchase a property with a deposit as low as 2%. The government contributes up to 40% of the purchase price on a new home, or up to 30% on an existing home, and takes an equivalent equity share in the property.

In plain terms: the government becomes a co-owner of your home — not a co-borrower, not a guarantor — an actual equity partner. That means a smaller loan for you, lower repayments, and no Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI), even with a 2% deposit.

The scheme opened for applications on 5 December 2025. As of early 2026, more than 2,300 places have already been approved, with around a quarter of the annual 10,000 spots now spoken for. If you're thinking about applying, now is the time to act.

Who Can Apply for Help to Buy?

To be eligible, you need to meet all of the following criteria:

• Australian citizen aged 18 or over
• Income under $100,000 per year for individual applicants, or under $160,000 per year for couples or single parents (based on your most recent ATO Notice of Assessment)
• No current property ownership — you cannot own land or property in Australia or overseas at the time of application (there are limited exceptions for single parents in certain circumstances)
• Owner-occupier intention — the property must be your principal place of residence; investment purchases are not eligible
• Minimum 2% deposit saved — and you must also be able to cover associated costs like stamp duty, legal fees, and building inspections
• Property within the price cap for your area

For Queensland buyers, the property price caps are:

• $1,000,000 in Brisbane, Gold Coast, and Sunshine Coast
• $700,000 in other Queensland regions

You don't have to be a first home buyer. If you previously owned property, sold it, and currently own nothing, you can still be eligible. This is different to the First Home Guarantee, which requires you not to have owned property in the last ten years.

Can All Brokers Help You Apply? (This Is Important)

No, and this is where a lot of buyers get caught out.

Help to Buy applications must go through a participating lender. Right now, only two lenders are on the panel: Commonwealth Bank and Bank Australia.

Here's the catch: we have been tipped that Commonwealth Bank has maxed out its quota. CBA also required applicants to go directly through its branch network, so brokers couldn't access this scheme for their clients to begin with.

That leaves Bank Australia as the only active lender currently taking new applications under the Help to Buy scheme via the Broker channel.

Ferns Finance Brokers has access to Bank Australia. If you want to apply for Help to Buy right now, you need a broker who can actually get you in front of the right lender, and that's exactly what we do.

More lenders are expected to join the panel throughout 2026, but if you want to move now, Bank Australia is where it's at, and we can help you get there.

Can I Get the First Home Owner Grant (FHOG) as Well as Help to Buy?

Yes! And this is one of the most powerful combinations available to Queensland buyers right now.

The Queensland First Home Owner Grant (FHOG) is a separate state government scheme and can be stacked with the federal Help to Buy scheme. For contracts signed before 30 June 2026, the FHOG is $30,000 for eligible buyers purchasing or building a new home.

You cannot combine Help to Buy with the First Home Guarantee or other shared equity or loan guarantee schemes, it's one or the other. But state grants like the FHOG are a different animal entirely, and layering them is not only allowed, it's smart planning.

For Queensland buyers purchasing a new home, you could be looking at:

• Government equity contribution via Help to Buy (up to 40% of purchase price)
• $30,000 FHOG (for contracts before 30 June 2026)
• Zero stamp duty on new home purchases (from 1 May 2025, no price cap)

That's a significant package and the right broker will help you structure it properly.

Who Helps You With the Help to Buy Application?

You can't apply directly to Housing Australia. The application process runs through your participating lender — with a broker like Ferns Finance coordinating the whole thing on your behalf.

Here's how it works:

Step 1 — Check eligibility: We review your income, savings, and circumstances against the scheme criteria before you do anything else.

Step 2 — Pre-approval: We prepare your application, submit it to Bank Australia, and they submit it to Housing Australia. If approved, your spot in the scheme is reserved for 90 days (with one 90-day extension available).

Step 3 — Find your property: Your pre-approval letter outlines your maximum purchase price and the state you applied in. You then house-hunt within those parameters.

Step 4 — Formal approval: Once you've found a property, we work with your solicitor on the contract, and the lender submits the final application to Housing Australia.

Step 5 — Settlement: Housing Australia's conveyancer contacts you to sign the Participation Agreement and a second mortgage (which secures the government's equity stake). Then you settle and get your keys.

The government's equity share doesn't attract rent or interest but when you sell, or when you buy out the government's share, they receive a proportional cut of the current market value.

What Documents Do You Need?

Before you approach a lender, have the following ready:

Identity and residency:

• Australian passport or birth certificate plus photo ID
• Proof of Australian citizenship

Income verification:

• ATO Notice of Assessment for the most recent financial year (this is how income is assessed, make sure your tax return is lodged)
• Recent payslips (three to six months, needs to be current and most recent)
• If self-employed: two years of tax returns and financial statements

Assets and liabilities:

• Bank statements showing your deposit savings (typically three months minimum — lenders want to see genuine savings)
• Details of any other assets, debts, or financial commitments

Property-related:

• If purchasing a house and land package: the land contract, fixed-price building contract, and evidence of builder's insurances

Additional for new builds:

• The builder must have all required insurances
• The contract must be fixed price, cover all works (including driveway), and take the build from start to completion

The more organised your paperwork before you speak to us, the faster we can move — and with limited spots available, speed matters.

How Do I Know If I Can Afford a House and Land Package?

This is one of the most common questions we get from first home buyers in Queensland, and it's a really important one because there's a difference between what the scheme allows and what you can actually afford to repay.

Here's a simple way to think about it:

What the government contributes reduces your loan but you still need to service the remaining amount. Most lenders will cap your borrowing at roughly 5–6 times your annual income. So if you earn $80,000 a year, your loan is likely capped at around $400,000–$480,000. The government's equity contribution only bridges the gap between your loan and the total purchase price.

You still need to cover upfront costs stamp duty (or in Queensland's case, the stamp duty exemption on new builds), legal fees, conveyancing, building and pest inspections, and potentially connection fees for house and land packages. These aren't included in the 2% deposit calculation.

For a house and land package specifically:

• The land purchase and building contract are usually two separate contracts (which is fine under Help to Buy)
• The building contract must be fixed price and cover all works from start to finish
• The builder must hold all required insurances
• The property value including the build must sit under the price cap for your postcode

The best way to know whether you can genuinely afford a particular package is to sit down with us, run the real numbers against your income, debts, and savings, and map out what your repayments would look like not just at today's rates, but with a buffer built in.

That's exactly the conversation we have with every client before they commit to anything.

What If I Don't Qualify for Help to Buy? Other Options for Low-Deposit Buyers

Help to Buy isn't the only way to get into the market with a smaller deposit. Depending on your situation, there are a range of alternatives we can explore:

First Home Guarantee (5% Deposit, No LMI): The federal First Home Guarantee was expanded significantly from October 2025, it now has unlimited places, no income caps, and higher property price caps. You borrow 95% of the property value, and the government guarantees 15%, so you avoid LMI entirely. You own 100% of the property from day one (no shared equity). This is available through a large panel of participating lenders, many of which we have direct access to as brokers.

95% Lenders (With or Without LMI): Some lenders will lend up to 95% of the purchase price without a government scheme, either with LMI capitalised into the loan or with LMI waived for certain professions (medical, legal, accounting, and finance professionals often qualify for waivers). This gives you flexibility on lender and product choice.

Guarantor Loans (Up to 100% + Costs): If a parent or family member owns property with usable equity, they can act as guarantor for your loan effectively replacing the deposit by offering their equity as additional security. This can eliminate LMI entirely and get you into the market with little to no cash deposit, while keeping the loan in your name.

Queensland's Boost to Buy Scheme: Queensland has its own shared equity scheme called Boost to Buy, with income caps of $150,000 for singles and $225,000 for couples, significantly more generous than the federal scheme. This is a separate scheme and can't be stacked with Help to Buy, but it's worth knowing about if your income sits above the federal thresholds. Round 2 of the Queensland Government’s Boost to Buy scheme is currently open as of March 31, 2026, offering 500 new places. The shared equity scheme assists first home buyers with a deposit as low as for properties up to $1 million, with the government contributing up to 25% for existing builds, and 30% for new homes.

Every situation is different. Our job is to look at what you've got, map out all the options, and put you in front of the right lender for your circumstances, not just the first one that says yes.

Ready to Find Out Where You Stand?

If you're a first home buyer in South East Queensland, whether you're on the Gold Coast, in Logan, Beenleigh, or the Scenic Rim, Ferns Finance Brokers can help you work through the Help to Buy scheme and every other option available to you.

We have access to Bank Australia, the only lender currently taking new Help to Buy borrowers. We'll check your eligibility, pull your full picture together, and help you move because spots are filling up.

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