How the Help to Buy Scheme helped one renter stay in the home she loved

Katherine loved the home she shared with her 10-year-old daughter, Indi. With the Australian Government Help to Buy Scheme, she was able to buy it.

They’d rented their two-bedroom unit in Pascoe Vale for two years. It was close to school and work, with neighbours they knew and loved.

As a single parent with one income, Katherine assumed buying a property would mean starting over. “It would have meant moving much further out,” she says. “Re-establishing ourselves, longer commutes to school and work, and essentially being outside of our community.”

But with support from the Help to Buy Scheme, they didn’t have to move at all.

From“pipe dream” to possible

Katherine first looked into the (now retired) Victorian Homebuyer Fund, a state-wide shared equity scheme, to work out whether home ownership was possible for her at all.

Then the Australian Government launched the Help to Buy Scheme, offering a larger shared-equity contribution through participating lenders. That difference was enough to turn home ownership into something she could actually pursue.

Here’s how the Help to Buy Scheme works.

Homebuyers need to:

• save a minimum 2% deposit
• get a home loan from a Participating Lender (Bank Australia is one)
• cover the costs of acquiring the home (e.g. stamp duty, legal fees, registration fees etc.)

The Australian Government will then:  

• contribute up to 30% (existing homes) or 40% (new homes) toward the purchase price in exchange for an equal percentage equity stake in the property

In practice, this can mean a smaller deposit, expanded borrowing power and lower mortgage repayments than buying outright.

You can find more information and check your eligibility against the criteria at Bank Australia’s Help to Buy hub.

How Katherine bought the home she was already renting

Katherine’s path to home ownership began with some “lateral thinking”.

While on holiday, she and her family were brainstorming and someone floated the idea of emailing her current landlords to see if they’d consider selling. “Serendipitously, they were already thinking about it,” Katherine says.

The landlords knew Katherine and her story, and were happy to see their family home passed on to another family. From that first message to settlement took about six months.

The benefits of ownership

Buying the unit meant Katherine and Indi could stay close to their school, workplace and neighbours. “It meant we didn’t have to move – yay!”, says Katheine, noting that it would have been Indi’s fifth move in her life.

Instead, they could finally put away their packing boxes.

“It’s been super helpful to be able to buy within our own community, and Help to Buy has helped us do that.”

Ownership also means Katherine can now make larger changes she couldn’t as a renter. This includes cosmetic updates, along with home electrification upgrades like insulation and a portable induction stove as an interim step away from gas.

Because of the Help to Buy Scheme, Katherine’s mortgage repayments are only slightly more than she was paying in rent.  "It's made it really manageable for me as a single parent,” she says, “to be paying just that little bit more for my own place.”

Applying for the Help to Buy Scheme through Bank Australia

Katherine had been meaning to switch to Bank Australia for a long time. “The values of Bank Australia are very aligned with my own,” she says.

Through the Help to Buy Scheme, she finally joined.

She found applying for the Help to Buy Scheme to be “really simple”, with a fully online application, clear visibility at every stage, and a dedicated Bank Australia consultant she could return to "without having to re-explain myself every time."

Since becoming a customer, she also appreciates Bank Australia’s multiple offset accounts and the Round UP feature, which she says had helped her save "without even noticing.”

Katherine’s advice to other buyers

Katherine encourages other renters to look into the Help to Buy Scheme, even if ownership feels years away.

“It's made it much more accessible for me,” she says. Accessible enough, in her case, to buy the home she was already renting, helping to maintain the community ties and sense of belonging that are so essential to her family.

“That was really important,” she says. “Not having to move away from our home again.”

Check your eligibility for Help to Buy through Bank Australia