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2023-12-22 2:05 pm

Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee

The Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee (RFHBG) is part of the Home Guarantee Scheme, an Australian government initiative supporting eligible home buyers to purchase a home sooner.

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What is the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee?

You could be a home owner before you know it.

We know how hard it is to save for a deposit when you’re renting, working and studying. That’s why we’ve signed on as an approved lender to the Australian Government’s home buyer initiative, the ‘Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee' (RFHBG).

The RFHBG allows eligible home buyers on low and middle incomes to purchase a home with a deposit of as little as 5% (lenders credit criteria apply). The guarantee removes the (often significant) cost of Lender’s Mortgage Insurance (LMI) which is something you would usually pay if you have a deposit of less than 20%. This is because Housing Australia guarantees to a participating lender up to 15 percent of the value of the property purchased.

How does it work?

From July 1 2024, 10,000 places have been released under the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee (RFHBG) up to 30 June 2025. These places support eligible home buyers to purchase a new or existing home.

Eligible home buyers are able to purchase in the regional area they have lived in during the preceding 12 month period, or an adjacent regional area.

Eligible home buyers can use the RFHBG in conjunction with other government programs like the First Home Super Saver Scheme or state and territory first home owner grants and stamp duty concessions.

Who it's for

To qualify for the scheme, you’ll need to meet the list of eligibility criteria below:

  • You are purchasing a home to live in yourself or with one other person
  • You’re aged over 18
  • You’re an Australian permanent resident
  • You earn less than $125k in a tax year or, as a couple, less than $200K combined, as shown on the Notice of Assessment issued by the Australian Taxation Office
  • You (or at least one of you if you are a couple) have lived in the regional area or adjacent regional area you are purchasing in for 12 months prior to the date you execute your home loan agreement^
  • You are purchasing as an owner-occupier of the property
  • You have at least 5% of the value of the property saved as a deposit
  • You have not previously owned, or had an interest in, a property (including owning or having owned land) in Australia in the last 10 years
Be purchasing
  • A residential property
  • If you’re building, the loan also includes construction costs to build a residential property on the land you want to buy
  • You stay under the price caps for each state and region.
  • You must apply for a Principal and Interest loan (no Interest-Only loans)

Find out more about the eligibility criteria on the Housing Australia website.

Check out the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee fact sheet

Read the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee information guide

^Australian Defence Force member applicants, and some employees required by their current employer to relocate may be eligible for a partial exemption and should check with their participating lender if this applies.

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Own your own home with the First Home Guarantee


The First Home Guarantee (FHBG) provides eligible homebuyers the opportunity to purchase their first home with a deposit of as little as 5 per cent.

Read more

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