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Help to Buy: buying with a government share

Help to Buy is an Australian Government shared equity scheme: you buy with a deposit of at least 2%, and the Government contributes up to 30% of the price of an existing home or up to 40% of a new one. You own the home and your name is on the title, while the Government holds a share of its value that you buy back over time or repay when you sell.

How the share works

The Government’s contribution is an equity contribution secured by an interest-free loan. You pay no rent and no interest to the Government, and there are no monthly repayments to it; your monthly repayments go to your lender as usual.

The contribution is between 5% and 30% of the purchase price for an existing home, and between 5% and 40% for a newly built one. Housing Australia’s guide says the Government contributes as much as is needed, up to that maximum, to buy the home and to make sure you don’t pay lenders mortgage insurance. You put in the most you can afford on your lender’s assessment, and at least 2%.

Because the Government owns a share of the value, it shares in gains and losses in proportion: when you sell or buy it out, it receives its percentage of what the home is worth at that time, not the dollar amount it first put in. Stamp duty, legal and conveyancing fees, inspection and valuation fees and other purchase costs are yours to pay.

A bar standing for one home’s price, split into three parts: a 2% deposit, a 58% home loan and a 40% Government share. Home loan 58% Government share 40% Deposit 2% 100% of the price
The example below, drawn to scale: a new home bought with the smallest deposit and the largest contribution the scheme allows for a new home. Real shares are set case by case.

A worked example

Example, figures invented

A newly built home costs $650,000, within the price cap for its area. The buyer puts in the minimum 2% deposit and the Government contributes the 40% maximum for a new home.

Deposit (2%)
$13,000
Government contribution (40%)
$260,000
Home loan from the lender
$377,000

The loan is 58% of the price. Later, if the home were valued at $700,000, the Government’s 40% would be $280,000; at $600,000 it would be $240,000. Those are this guide’s sums on the rule that the Government receives its percentage of the value at the time.

Housing Australia publishes its own worked example on the Help to Buy page.

Who it is for, as at October 2026

The scheme is open to first-time buyers and to people returning to home ownership, with 10,000 places each year. Applications opened on 5 December 2025. The published conditions include:

  • being at least 18, with a deposit of at least 2% of the purchase price;
  • every applicant being an Australian citizen, applying alone or with one other person;
  • living in the home as your principal place of residence, with no renting it out;
  • owning no property in Australia or overseas, with exceptions for single parents who own property jointly and want to buy out the other owner or sell;
  • receiving no help from other shared equity schemes, loans or guarantees from the Australian Government or the states and territories for the purchase. State first home grants and stamp duty concessions can still be claimed.

Income limits are indexed each financial year. For 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 the limit is a taxable income of $103,000 for a single applicant and $165,000 for joint applicants or a single parent, read from the Notice of Assessment for 2025–26 (the year the scheme calls FY2026).

Applications go through a Participating Lender; Housing Australia does not take them directly. A conditional approval reserves a place for up to 90 days, which Housing Australia may extend by another 90, and at settlement Housing Australia takes a second mortgage over the home.

Price caps

Each state and territory has its own caps, with a higher cap in capital cities and listed regional centres. As at October 2026 they run from $400,000 on Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands to $1,300,000 in NSW’s capital city and regional centres, and the full list and a postcode search are on Housing Australia’s price caps page. The caps are not indexed; the Government sets them by policy decision.

They are not the same as the 5% Deposit Scheme’s caps. In NSW’s capital city and regional centres, for example, Help to Buy’s cap is $1,300,000 and the 5% Deposit Scheme’s is $1,500,000. A price that fits one scheme can miss the other.

Living in the scheme

While you are in the scheme you keep meeting its conditions: maintaining the home, keeping it insured, and taking part in reviews. Housing Australia checks the insurance each year and reviews taxable income at least once every five years.

Two financial years in a row over the income limit can bring a requirement to buy back some or all of the Government’s share.

That repayment depends on what you can manage; Housing Australia’s guide says your lender assesses your financial position, and you won’t be expected to repay beyond what is reasonable for you.

Renovations are allowed. Under the guide, work costing less than $21,000 that needs no council approval goes ahead without the Government’s permission; above $21,000 you notify Housing Australia, which arranges valuations before and after so that the added value is yours. That $21,000 figure is the 2026–27 threshold, indexed each year.

The ways out

The scheme is meant as a step towards owning the home outright. There are three ways to reduce or end the Government’s share:

  • Voluntary repayments from savings, each at least 5% of the home’s value.
  • Buying back some or all of the share with additional lending.
  • Selling the home, which you may do at any time; you notify Housing Australia promptly and repay its share from the sale.

The full rules sit in the Help to Buy Customer Guide and the scheme’s General Terms, which Housing Australia recommends getting professional advice on before entering an arrangement. Help to Buy and the 5% Deposit Scheme cannot be used together. Platform 6 sets the schemes side by side.