Bendigo Bank backs more inclusive Home Guarantee Scheme
Bendigo Bank, home to Australia’s most satisfied home loan customers*, welcomes an expansion of eligibility criteria for the Australian Government Home Guarantee Scheme (the Scheme) from 1 July, giving more people the opportunity to buy a home sooner.
The Scheme guarantees part of an eligible first home buyer’s home loan from participating lenders,enabling an eligible home buyer to purchase a home with as little as 2 per cent deposit for the Family Home Guarantee and 5 per cent deposit for the First Home Guarantee and Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee, without paying Lenders Mortgage Insurance.
The Scheme, administered by the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation, has now expanded eligibility to include:
- Australian permanent residents
- Friends, siblings, and other family members for joint applications for the First Home Guarantee and Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee
- Home buyers who haven’t owned a property in Australia in the past ten years, applying for the First Home Guarantee and Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee
- Single legal guardians of dependents such as aunts, uncles, and grandparents applying for the Family Home Guarantee.
Bendigo Bank Chief Customer Officer, Richard Fennell said that the expansion of eligibility the Home Guarantee Scheme will help remove barriers for even more homebuyers.
"Since February 2020, Bendigo Bank has helped more than 2,000 Australians access affordable and safe housing via the Scheme.
“These eligibility changes are sensible and inclusive.”
“Home ownership may now become a reality, not just a dream, for newer Australians, different households, and those who have dropped off the property ladder.”
“Bendigo Bank is genuinely excited to help thousands more eligible buyers with the broadening of the criteria for the Australian Government’s Home Guarantee Scheme,” said Mr Fennell.
“The eligibility expansion to permanent residents will also bring the Scheme in line with corresponding State Schemes, including the Victorian Homebuyer Fund and NSW Shared Equity Home Buyer Helper, of which Bendigo Bank is an active participant,” said Richard Fennell.
Bendigo Bank’s Government support online tool enables prospective homebuyers to search for available government initiatives and quickly and easily enquire with Bendigo Bank online.
The success of the Scheme is clear and has helped to get young people into housing quicker. Bendigo Bank customer, Jack, successfully bought his first home in Toowoomba, Queensland, through the Scheme in May 2022 with his partner at age 25 – a couple of years earlier than he thought he would be able to, had they needed the standard 20 per cent deposit.
“It was great for my partner and I to access housing in a tougher market a little over a year ago with just a 5 per cent deposit. We were able to save this deposit in approximately nine months versus a typical non-scheme loan where it would have taken years potentially,” said Jack.
“The program was great, and it definitely helps first home buyers into the market with no obvious drawbacks.”
“My experience with Bendigo Bank has been great. The lender took us through the process seamlessly and advised us timelines to find a property that took away all the guesswork,” said Jack.
The Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee now includes an exemption to the requirement to live in the region or adjacent region for the preceding 12-month period, which may apply to some applicants required by their current employer to relocate. An exemption was previously only available to Australian Defence Force members.
Also under the Family Home Guarantee, applicants looking to purchase the family home are now able to undertake simultaneous sale or a simultaneous settlement.
