Help to Buy: the federal shared equity scheme

How shared equity works

The Government’s contribution is not a grant. The fact sheet describes it as a percentage of the purchase price paid “by way of a loan”, in exchange for a corresponding equity share. Your name is on the title and you live in the home, but the Government holds a financial interest that grows or shrinks with the home’s value. The customer guide gives the range as 5% to 30% of the price for an existing home and 5% to 40% for a newly built home, based on what you can afford.

There are no monthly repayments to the Government and no rent or interest on its share. You keep repaying your own home loan to your Participating Lender. Because the deposit plus the Government’s share reduces the loan, the scheme can remove the need for lenders mortgage insurance (see deposit and lenders mortgage insurance).

When you sell, or when you buy back the whole share, the Government receives the value of its share at that point in time. If the home has gained value, you repay more than the original contribution; if it has lost value, less.

Who is eligible

According to the fact sheet and customer guide of 1 July 2026 (version 260701), every applicant must:

• be an Australian citizen (the scheme page lists citizenship for all applicants; permanent residency is not mentioned) and at least 18 years old;
• contribute the maximum deposit they reasonably can, at least 2% of the price;
• have a taxable income at or below the cap on the ATO Notice of Assessment for the previous financial year;
• live in the home as their principal place of residence (no investment properties, no renting it out without an approved exemption);
• not own or beneficially own any property in Australia or overseas;
• not receive help from another shared equity scheme, a home buyer guarantee, or a state or territory loan or guarantee for the purchase.

You can apply alone or with one other person, and each must meet the criteria. First home buyers and people who owned a home before can both apply, as long as they own no property when they apply.

Single parents (no spouse or de facto partner and at least one dependant) have two exceptions to the ownership rule: they can use the scheme to buy out a former partner’s share of a jointly owned home, or buy while selling another property, provided that sale completes within 4 weeks of settling the Help to Buy home. Housing Australia can consider hardship exemptions case by case.

Income caps

The caps are taxable income, including investment income, and are indexed on 1 July each year. They apply at the time of final application approval.

Property price caps

Both new and existing homes must be at or below the cap for their location. The price caps are not indexed: they change only by government decision.

Jervis Bay Territory and Norfolk Island have a cap of $550,000, and Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands $400,000. The regional centres are Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, Illawarra, Central Coast, Mid-North Coast, Coffs Harbour-Grafton and Richmond-Tweed in NSW; Geelong in Victoria; and the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Some suburbs span postcodes with different caps, so check the official postcode tool.

These caps are lower in NSW and the NT than those of the 5% Deposit Scheme ($1,500,000 and $750,000 for the capital cities): see the 5% Deposit Scheme guide. The two schemes cannot be combined.

Eligible homes

A new or existing house, townhouse, apartment or unit, or a vacant block for a new home or a knock-down rebuild, with an eligible building contract. The fact sheet sets conditions for a build contract: a licensed or registered builder not related to you, a fixed price for the whole build up to move-in (including the driveway), and the builder’s required insurances (see home building warranty insurance). It also tells buyers not to purchase an off-the-plan property or unregistered land that is not expected to settle within 3 months (see buying off the plan), and not to buy from a related party such as a family member. Insurance is compulsory for the whole time you are in the scheme.

Status and lenders (October 2026)

Treasury states that applications opened on 5 December in participating states and the territories, a participating state being one that has passed Help to Buy legislation. Housing Australia’s release of 1 July 2026 says the scheme now covers all states and territories after its expansion to Tasmania in June 2026, with 10,000 new places for 2026-27. It also reports more than 7,200 applications since launch, of which 4,800 applicants had found a home or settled.

You apply only through a Participating Lender. On 21 October 2026 the official list named Bank Australia, Commonwealth Bank, Queensland Country Bank, and Teachers Mutual Bank, Health Professionals Bank, Firefighters Mutual Bank and UniBank (the Teachers Mutual Bank Limited group). Do not pay a deposit or bid at auction before you hold conditional approval from both the lender and Housing Australia (see home loan pre-approval).

Repaying the Government’s share

• Voluntary repayments: at any time, each of at least 5% of the home’s value, and you pay for the valuation.
• Sale: you can sell at any time, but must notify Housing Australia and repay its share from the sale.
• Income above the cap: Housing Australia monitors compliance throughout the arrangement (including insurance) and reviews taxable income at least once every five years. If your taxable income exceeds the cap for two financial years in a row, your lender assesses whether you can repay part or all of the share. If the share is above 5%, the test is whether you can repay at least 5%; if it is 5% or less, whether you can repay it all. An assessed repayment is due within 90 days. If you cannot afford it, a new assessment follows at least 12 months later, and Housing Australia will not force a repayment that would require you to take out LMI.
• Death: Housing Australia generally seeks to recover its share within two years, unless the home passes to up to two beneficiaries who meet the scheme’s criteria.

Renovations costing $21,000 or more (indexed; $20,000 in 2025-26), a continuous series of works over up to 12 months counting as one, can be notified to Housing Australia so that a valuation before and after the works keeps the added value yours; below that amount, the Government shares in any gain. Extra borrowing from a Participating Lender is allowed only to reduce the Government’s share, for maintenance or improvements, or under the lender’s hardship policy; refinancing that does not increase the mortgage remains possible, and the loan must stay with a Participating Lender until the share is repaid.

What it does not cover

Stamp duty, legal and conveyancing fees, inspections, valuations and insurance remain yours. The scheme does not stop you claiming state first home grants and duty concessions: see first home buyer concessions, the First Home Owner Grant and the stamp duty calculator.

Which professional to consult

A mortgage broker can tell you whether one of the Participating Lenders suits you and how large a Government share your borrowing capacity implies (mortgage brokers). The fact sheet strongly recommends independent legal and financial advice before signing the Help to Buy General Terms: a conveyancer or solicitor also checks the “subject to finance” clause and the settlement date (conveyancers).