Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee (RFHBG)

What is the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee (RFHBG) and how does it work?

The purpose of the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee (RFHBG) is to help eligible regional home buyers to buy a home sooner, in a regional area.

If you’re eligible, you can purchase or build a modest, regional home with a deposit of as little as 5 per cent without paying  Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI), which could potentially save you thousands. This is because the Housing Australia, which administers the Scheme, guarantees to us, as a participating lender, up to 15 per cent of the value of the property.

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Am I eligible?

Eligibility criteria includes:

• You need to be an Australian citizen or permanent resident and at least 18 years old.
• You need to be a first home buyer or a buyer who hasn't owned a property in Australia in the past 10 years.
• You need to be buying a property that you will live in.
• You need to be able to demonstrate your  ability to save over time (genuine savings), with a minimum 5% deposit saved for the property you wish to buy plus enough to cover standard fees and charges like stamp duty.
• You need to meet the income eligibility requirements, which are single buyers earning up to $125,000, or joint applicants (which can be married or de-facto couples, friends, siblings or other family members) earning up to $200,000 per annum for the previous financial year, as shown on the Notice of Assessment (issued by the Australian Taxation Office).
• You (or your joint applicant) must have lived in the regional area or adjacent regional area you are purchasing in for the preceding 12-month period to the date you execute the home loan agreement. ^
• Home loan repayments of both principal and interest must be paid for the full period of your loan agreement.
• There are property price thresholds that apply. Use the Housing Australia Property Price Cap Tool to find out the maximum property price of the regional area you're interested in.

It’s important to note that if you’re eligible for the RFHBG, you are not eligible for the First Home Guarantee. Home buyers who are not eligible for the RFHBG, may be eligible for the First Home Guarantee or the Family Home Guarantee. To help you work out which Guarantee you may be eligible for, use the Housing Australia Eligibility Tool.

What is a regional area?

A regional area is defined as:

• the Statistical Area Level 4 (ASGS SA4 2016) areas in a State or the Northern Territory that are not a capital city of that State or Territory; and

• Norfolk Island; or the Territories of Jervis Bay, Christmas Island or Cocos (Keeling) Islands; as defined in the version published by The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in July 2016.

The greater capital city areas of each state and the Northern Territory; and the entire Australian Capital Territory are excluded from the RFHBG. Home buyers in these areas may be eligible for the First Home Guarantee and Family Home Guarantee.

Use the Housing Australia Regional Checker to confirm whether you live in a regional area, and where you may be able to buy.

What type of property can I buy?

For a property to be eligible it must be:

• an existing house, townhouse or apartment
• a house and land package
• land and a separate contract to build a home
• an off-the-plan apartment or townhouse.

Specific dates and requirements apply for the different property types.

It’s important to note that lenders (including us), require your land to be titled prior to issuing a Housing Australia guarantee, therefore the land will need to be titled before the end of the 90-day pre-approval period.

Key information about the RFHBG

How to apply

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