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