Shared Equity Home Buyer Helper

The NSW launched a new scheme Shared Equity Home Buyer Helper, that assists eligible single parents with dependent children, single people 50 years and over, and first home buyers who are employed as key workers with buying a home. The Shared Equity Home Buyer Helper was made available on 23 January 2023 and aims to help those who want to purchase a home but are not approved for a mortgage due to their individual circumstances.

In this scheme the NSW government will pay 40% of the purchase price of eligible property, retaining it as equity for as long as you are eligible for Shared Equity or until you sell the property.

At this stage, Bendigo Bank is approved as the lending partner of this scheme, which the Revenue NSW appoints to the Shared Equity Lending Panel.

Your Gross income includes assessable income and any income exempt from taxation.

Who can apply?

• Single parents (dependent children under the age of 16 or 19 full-time secondary students, and under the age of 21 with disability)
• Single people 50 years and over
• Nurses,
• Midwives,
• Paramedics,
• Teachers,
• Early childhood educators and
• Police officers

 

 

Eligibility

You must follow the conditions for eligibility to join Shared Equity Home Buyer Helper.

• The shared equity contribution from the government.
• To secure approval for a home loan from a participating lender with the Government-Shared Equity Initiative.
• Able to service a mortgage with a government contribution.

The participants must be;

• 18 years of age or older
• A resident of Australia, New Zealand citizen, or a permanent Australian resident.
• Show your ability to save over time and a minimum deposit of 2% of the total property price.
• Ready to occupy the property as your principal place of residence from the day of settlement.

The participants who are not eligible;

• Currently who owns any land or property
• Be able to service the mortgage without the government contribution.
• Have a gross income of more than $90,000 (singles) and $120,000 (couples).
• You and your spouse/partner must not have previously owned an interest in any land or property in Australia.

Please note: You must have the fund to cover the acquisition costs if you buy an existing home or construction works if you are building a home. These costs include any transfer duty, conveyancing fees, legal fees, cost of relevant certificates, settlement fees, building inspection costs, and registration fees.

The maximum price for eligible property

The location of the home determines the maximum price of the property you can purchase:
• $950,000 in Sydney and major regional centres (Newcastle & Lake Macquarie, Illawarra, Central Coast and North Coast of NSW), or
• $600,000 in other regional areas of NSW.
Note: the maximum you can borrow to purchase a home will be based on your individual circumstances.

Kinds of eligible Properties

• A house, townhouse, strata unit (including associated utility lots), company title unit flat or duplex purchased through an eligible agreement of sale
• Land, together with an eligible comprehensive home building contract.
The property will also meet the criteria set by your lending partner, which may not support the purchase of a particular property type, even though Revenue NSW deems the property eligible for Shared Equity.

Not eligible properties

• Primary production land.
• Land used for business or business premises.
• Holiday homes.

Eligibility assessment tool
You can use the Shared Equity Home Buyer Helper Assessment Tool to check your eligibility.

Please contact us for more information.