First home buyer schemes in Australia

The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme

The official first home buyers website describes the 5% Deposit Scheme, "formerly known as the Home Guarantee Scheme". Per that page:

• The minimum deposit is 5% for first home buyers and 2% for single parents.
• The page lists no lenders mortgage insurance as a benefit.
• There are no income caps.
• It states unlimited scheme places and no waiting list.
• It mentions increased price caps across Australia, which vary by location. The page we checked did not give the figures, so check the current price cap for your area on the official site.
• It says the scheme has recently expanded its eligibility, and it covers a house, townhouse or unit, existing or new build.
• The same site lists a Help to Buy scheme, with applications noted as open from 5 December 2025.

You apply through a participating lender, not RateSonar. Some lenders in the scheme set their own rates and conditions, so a government guarantee does not make every loan the same. Compare them.

State and territory help

First home owner grants and stamp duty concessions are administered by state and territory revenue offices. They differ in amount, property type, price limits and whether the property must be new. The official site, firsthomebuyers.gov.au, is the place to start, and each state revenue office publishes its current rules. RateSonar does not list thresholds because they change, and an out-of-date figure could cost you.

Compare lenders once you know your path

A smaller deposit means a higher LVR, and rates vary with LVR. See what LVR means. Then:

1. Work out your deposit and LVR.
2. Check which lenders take part in the scheme you want, using the official site.
3. Open home loan rates and filter to owner-occupier. As at 2 Nov 2026, the middle advertised standard variable owner-occupier rate in RateSonar's data is 6.74%, and half the loans sit between 6.39% and 7.45%. Many of the lowest rates need a lower LVR than a 5% deposit allows (for borrowers borrowing up to 90% of the property value for the lowest, 5.69%).
4. Compare comparison rates and fees (how the comparison rate works).
5. Put your shortlist side by side in compare rates.

For a first home buyer, the difference between lenders can be large over a long loan. On a $600,000 loan over 30 years, the gap between 6.74% and 6.39% is about $138 a month, by RateSonar's arithmetic with the rate held constant.

Questions to ask

• Is my lender part of the scheme, and what are its own conditions?
• What is the rate and comparison rate for my LVR?
• What are the fees, and is there an offset or redraw?
• If I am under 20% equity and not in the scheme, what would LMI cost?
• How will my repayments look if the rate rises by 3 percentage points? At the middle variable rate of 6.74%, that moves a $600,000 repayment from about $3,888 to about $5,151 a month.

A broker can also help. See questions to ask a mortgage broker.