The Family Home Guarantee is an Australian Government initiative under the Home Guarantee Scheme.
It is designed to help eligible single parents or guardians with at least one dependent child in purchasing a home with a minimum of a 2% deposit without paying Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI).
LMI is often charged on deposits of less than 20%. In this scheme, if the borrower pays a 2% deposit, the government will guarantee 18% of the loan, allowing the borrower to avoid paying LMI.
For FY2024-25, 5,000 places are available.
The Family Home Guarantee is available until 30 June 2025.
Eligibility Requirements For Family Home Guarantee
The Family Home Guarantee in Australia has several eligibility requirements for applicants. To be eligible for the Family Home Guarantee, you must:
Requirements
Eligibility criteria
Age
18 years or older
Type of borrower
Only single applicants are accepted.
You must be a single parent or legal guardian of at least one dependent child.
Income
Your taxable income must not exceed $125,000
Child support payments are not included in the income cap.
Ownership
The scheme is not limited to first-home buyers. You can be a previous home owner.
You can’t currently own a property.
Citizenship
Applicants must be Australian citizens and 18 years or older. Permanent residents are also eligible.
Deposit
A minimum deposit of 2% of the property value is required.
If the deposit is 20% or more, you will are not eligible for the scheme
Type of housing
Build a new home OR Purchase an existing home
Existing house
Townhouse
Apartment
House and land package
Land and separate contract to build your home
Benefits of Family Home Guarantee
You can buy a home with a deposit as low as 2% of the property value. This gets you onto the market sooner, as you don’t have to wait to save a larger deposit.
It is a low-deposit home loan option where you save thousands of dollars on LMI as the government guarantees 18% of the value of the property with participating lender.
You can use the guarantee to build a new home or purchase new and existing properties like houses, townhouses, apartments, house and land packages and off-the-plan properties.
While the Family Home Guarantee offers a lot of benefits for single parents, there are also some limitations you need to consider, like property price caps for desired locations.
Single Parent Needing a Home Loan?
You can get approved with a deposit as low as 2% under the Family Home Guarantee. We’re here to help you secure your dream home with ease.
NSW – Sydney and regional centres
(Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Illawarra)
$900,000
NSW (rest of state)
$750,000
VIC – Melbourne and regional centre
(Geelong)
$800,000
VIC (rest of state)
$650,000
QLD – Brisbane and regional centres
(Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast)
$700,000
QLD (rest of state)
$550,000
WA
$600,000
WA (rest of state)
$450,000
SA
$600,000
SA (rest of state)
$450,000
TAS
$600,000
TAS (rest of state)
$450,000
ACT
$750,000
NT Regional
$600,000
Jervis Bay Territory and Norfolk Island
$550,000
Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands
$400,000
How To Apply For The Family Home Guarantee
You will go through the following process to reserve a place in the Family Home Guarantee:
Step 1: Initial home loan application
You apply for a home loan with a participating lender to make a First Home Guarantee reservation. It will take 14 days for the lender to assess your financial situation.
Step 2: Get pre-approval for a home loan
Once the lender gives you a home loan pre-approval, the reservation can be extended for a further 90 days. During this time, you have to find and sign a contract of sale for an eligible property.
Step 3: Sign contract of sale
Once you sign the contract of sale, your reservation can be extended for 30 days from the signing date.
The additional period is for you and your lender to finalise the paperwork and checks for your home loan.
To ensure the extension applies, make sure you immediately inform your lender that you’ve signed the contract of sale, so your lender can notify the NHFIC.
If you cannot finalise your home loan during this period, your reservation will expire.
We’re here to help
Home Loan Experts can help you apply for Family Home. Discuss your situation with our mortgage brokers today, and we’ll find you the best home loan for your scenario. Call us on 1300 889 743 or fill in our free assessment form.
FAQs: Family Home Guarantee
Is the scheme available for investment properties?
No. The Family Home Guarantee is not available for investment properties.
You must buy a residential property.
Can both parents apply for it?
Yes. Both parents (divorced or separated) can individually apply for the Family Home Guarantee.
Only one name of the single parent must be on the home loan and certificate of title.
However, if one parent has sole custody of the dependant, then he/she is not eligible for the scheme.
I am separated, but my divorce has not yet been finalised. Am I eligible?
No. The Family Home Guarantee requires applicants to be single and not have a spouse. If you are separated but still legally married, you are not eligible.
What’s a dependant child?
At least 16 years but under 22 years old
The young person is wholly or substantially dependent on the single parent
The young person’s income in the financial year does not exceed $6,403.
I own land. Can I use the guarantee to build on it?
No, owning land qualifies as owning property in Australia. You cannot use the guarantee to build on it.
What happens if I convert my home into an investment property?
If you turn your home into an investment property, your home loan is no longer eligible for the Family Home Guarantee. Your lender might require you to take certain actions, including paying fees or charges for LMI.
Related Topics
Home Guarantee Scheme 2024
The Home Guarantee Scheme allows you to buy a home with a small deposit
without paying LMI. Find out which parts of the scheme you can use.
15% Deposit Home Loans
Get a home loan with less than 20% deposit.
5% Deposit Home Loans
You can buy a home with just a 5% deposit. Here’s how.
98% Home Loans
The secret to getting approved for a 98% home loan
10% Deposit Home Loan
Yes! You can borrow up to 90%
New Home Guarantee or FHLDS Scheme (New Homes)
The FHLDS New Home Guarantee will help first home buyers purchase or build a new home with a 5% deposit and save thousands of dollars in LMI fees.
Trust Home Loan Experts To Help You
We have thousands of five-star reviews and testimonials on Product Review, Google Review and Facebook.
4.8 out of 430+ reviews
4.8 out of 720+ reviews
4.8 out of 1,650+ reviews
What Our Customers Say About Us
Made first home buying a breeze!I cannot thank Rob, Rabin and Nikhil enough.
They made the process so simple and stress free, especially for a first home buyer.
Always there to answer all our queries and give us their professional advise as well. I definitely recommend them to anyone who is thinking of buying their first home.
Perfect one stop home loan broker. As a first home buyer, I got a complete guidance from my broker Steve.
My partner and I approached Home Loan Experts for our first home loan. The whole process was incredibly efficient.
I'm a first home buyer and was confused how all the paper work need to be done. Find home loan expert on google and totally trusted as they would guide you step by step.
Excellent service at every step, they organised a LMI free loan due to me being a registered nurse and they were able to secure us an excellent interest rate.
Thanks to Home loan experts, I realised that it was possible to in fact increase my existing borrowings up to 90% LVR for being a CPA on $150k+ income without having to pay an arm and a leg in LMI
I needed a loan for my land and a separate one for the construction. Jenish, Kirtez and their team took care of both.
I have very good experience, always received prompt responses during the stage construction loan process.
Special thanks to Pranav this time for making our experience truly exceptional for our construction loan.