ACL 390611 | MFAA Member | Established 2005
First Home Buyer Loans.From a 5% Deposit.
Eligible first home buyers can buy with a deposit of 5 per cent and pay no lenders mortgage insurance, under the government’s First Home Guarantee. No income test, no cap on places. There are conditions, four of them catch people out, and we check every one against the rules before you get your hopes up.
15 minutes on the phone. Tell us what you have saved and roughly what you earn, and we will tell you what it buys. No credit check, no paperwork, no obligation. If you are better off waiting six months, we will say that instead. Lenders pay us a commission on settlement and we disclose it in writing before any work begins.
Intellect Finance – First Home Buyer Specialists
Independent since 2005 | ACL 390611What Is a First Home Buyer Loan and How Does the 5% Deposit Scheme Work?
A first home buyer loan is an ordinary home loan taken out by someone buying their first property, usually with a smaller deposit than other buyers bring. Eligible first home buyers can use the government’s First Home Guarantee to buy with a deposit of at least 5 per cent and pay no lenders mortgage insurance.
Under the scheme, Housing Australia guarantees the gap between your deposit and 20 per cent of the property’s value. That is the same exposure lenders mortgage insurance would otherwise cover, which is why the insurance is not required. There is no cash payment to you and nothing to repay. The conditions are set out in the Housing Australia Investment Mandate Direction 2018, and the government’s own guidance sits at firsthomebuyers.gov.au.
Since the scheme was expanded there is no income test, and no cap on the number of guarantees that may be issued. Property price caps still apply and vary by state and area. The conditions that actually catch people are elsewhere, in the fine detail of what makes a loan eligible, and they are set out in full below.
Common Situations
Where First Home Buyers Usually Are When They Call Us
Six situations cover most of the first home buyers who call us. The right answer is different in each one, and in two of them the guarantee is not the best route open to you.
Saving for 20 per cent is losing to the market
The deposit target moves while you save toward it. The guarantee exists precisely for this, letting an eligible buyer in at 5 per cent without the insurance premium. Whether that is the right call depends on your position, not on the scheme.
Your parents want to help but not in cash
Equity in their property can support your deposit through a guarantor structure, which is a different mechanism to the government guarantee and can remove the insurance a different way. See guarantor home loans.
You are buying with a partner
Two incomes, two credit files, two sets of debts and card limits. The scheme allows no more than two borrowers on the loan, so a third person joining changes the route entirely. See joint loans.
You owned a home years ago
The test is not whether this is your first home. It is whether you have held property in Australia in the last ten years. A separation or a sale a decade back does not necessarily rule you out, and most people assume it does.
You want to build rather than buy
Land and construction are assessed together and drawn down in stages. It is a different loan product with its own timing risks. See construction loans and land loans.
You are a single parent buying alone
A separate stream of the same scheme supports single parents and single legal guardians with dependants, at a deposit of at least 2 per cent, and it does not require you to be a first home buyer at all.
Social Proof
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First home buyers, upgraders, refinancers and investors. Pulled live from Google.
Joseph Sukkar
Principal Broker · ACL 390611
Who You’re Dealing With
Built on 25 Years in Australian Finance
Joseph Sukkar started in finance in 2000 and founded Intellect Finance in Penrith in 2005. Since then the team has arranged more than 6,500 loans for clients across Australia, from first homes to complex commercial and asset finance.
Residential lending sits with Moufid, our Head of Residential Lending, who has taken first home buyers through three separate versions of this scheme. On a first home file the useful work happens before anything is lodged: checking your position against the conditions in the operative instrument rather than against the summaries, and working out which participating lenders read your income type and your deposit history most favourably. Sometimes the honest answer is that six months of clearing card limits moves your number further than six months of saving does, and we will say so.
100+ Lenders Including
Accreditation with a lender is not an endorsement by it. Which lender suits you is decided by your file, not by who is on this list.
Not Sure If You Qualify?
Fifteen minutes and you will know. No credit check, no paperwork.What Actually Decides It
The Guarantee Is Not What Most People Think It Is
The First Home Guarantee protects the lender rather than the buyer, and it expires. Six conditions in the governing instrument decide whether you can use a first home buyer loan under the scheme, and four of them rule people out for reasons almost no page states.
It protects the lender rather than you
The guarantee pays out only where you have defaulted, the property has been sold, and money is still owed. It pays that shortfall to the lender. You still owe what you owe. Buyers read the word guarantee and hear protection. What it protects is the lender’s downside, which is what makes the loan acceptable to write in the first place.
It expires and nobody tells you when
The instrument requires the guarantee to cease once your loan balance falls to 80 per cent or less of the property’s value. Repayments and price growth both count toward that. It is temporary support across the riskiest stretch of the loan, not a permanent feature of it.
The deposit has a ceiling as well as a floor
The loan to value ratio must exceed 80 per cent and be no more than 95 per cent. Saving a 20 per cent deposit does not get you a better version of the scheme, it makes you ineligible for it. That surprises people who have been told to save as hard as possible.
Two borrowers and you have to live there
No more than two borrowers on the loan agreement, and the property must be owner-occupied. Buying with a sibling and a parent, or buying something to rent out first and move into later, both fall outside the scheme regardless of how strong the application is.
Principal and interest for thirty years at most
The loan must require scheduled repayments of principal for the full term, and the term cannot exceed thirty years. Interest-only is not available under the scheme, and stretching the term to make the repayment work is not available either.
It is a ten-year test rather than a first home test
An eligible buyer is someone who has not held a freehold interest in Australian real property, or certain lease and company title interests, in the last ten years, and who is at least 18 and an Australian citizen or permanent resident. Owning a home twelve years ago does not disqualify you.
Checked 31 August 2026. Every condition above comes from Part 5A of the Housing Australia Investment Mandate Direction 2018 as in force 18 July 2026: sections 29C, 29D and 29H. General scheme guidance sits on the Australian Government’s First Home Buyers site, administered by Housing Australia, and the state by state caps sit in its property price cap tool. Lenders mortgage insurance is described by ASIC Moneysmart and Best Interests Duty by ASIC Regulatory Guide 273. Eligibility is assessed by your participating lender and by Housing Australia, not by us. Everything else on this page is described in the important information at the foot of the page.
We read the instrument rather than the summaries, because the summaries have been wrong more than once this year. If you tell us your deposit, your income and where you are looking, we will tell you which conditions you clear and which you do not. Ask us to check it.
The Honest Comparison
Buy Now on 5 Per Cent or Keep Saving?
This is the question first home buyers actually have, and one of the two answers means we do nothing for another year. Here it is anyway.
Keep saving
- A larger deposit means a smaller loan and less interest paid across the term
- Time to clear card limits and personal debt, which lift your borrowing capacity directly
- No scheme conditions to satisfy, so any lender and any property type is open to you
- The target moves while you save, and the price cap in your area may not move with it
- Cross 20 per cent and the guarantee is no longer available to you, because the scheme requires an LVR above 80 per cent
Use the guarantee now
- In at 5 per cent, with no lenders mortgage insurance premium to fund
- No income test and no cap on the number of guarantees available
- You stop paying rent and start repaying principal, and the guarantee falls away as you do
- A larger loan, so more interest across the term and less room if rates move
- Buying at 95 per cent leaves almost no equity buffer if values fall in the first few years
Sometimes the answer is wait, and we will say so. If your borrowing capacity is being held down by a car loan and three card limits, six months of clearing them moves your number further than six months of saving does, and you will buy better for having waited. If you are close to a 20 per cent deposit already, the scheme is not the right target at all, because the guarantee requires a loan above 80 per cent of value and you are about to be on the wrong side of that line. The buyers we tell to proceed are the ones whose position is unlikely to improve faster than the market does. That is a judgement about your circumstances, not about the scheme, and it takes fifteen minutes to make.
Ask Us Whether Waiting Would Beat Buying
We will tell you if clearing a car loan and three card limits moves your number further than six more months of saving. Fifteen minutes. No credit check.The Difference
Why Not Just Walk Into Your Bank?
Your bank can tell you what your bank will do. It cannot tell you whether another lender reads your file more generously, and it has no obligation to mention that one exists.
Legally On Your Side
A home loan is regulated consumer credit, so we are required by law to act in your best interests and to put your interests ahead of ours where they conflict. Those obligations have applied to mortgage brokers since 1 January 2021. A bank’s own staff carry no equivalent duty when recommending their employer’s products.
We Read the Rules Rather Than the Summaries
Scheme conditions are set out in a legislative instrument that was amended five times in the ten months to July 2026. Plenty of what is published about it, including on pages that ought to know better, is a year out of date. We check the instrument and we date what we tell you.
No Fee. Not Even Clawback.
We do not charge you for the comparison, the structuring or the application, on any loan type. If you discharge the loan early we wear the clawback ourselves rather than invoicing you for it, which plenty of brokers do. Lenders pay a commission on settlement, disclosed to you in writing before any work begins.
Not Every Lender Offers the Scheme
Guarantees are issued through participating lenders only, and the participating list is not the same as the lender list. Which of them suits your income type and your deposit history is the part that decides the outcome, and it is not something you can compare from the outside.
The Process
How a First Home Buyer Loan Comes Together
Four steps, and nothing touches your credit file until you have seen the options and picked the lender yourself.
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15 minutes
Eligibility against the actual conditions
What you have saved, what you earn, where you are looking and whether you have ever held property. No documents and no credit check. You will finish the call knowing whether the scheme is open to you, what your realistic range is, and which route beats it if one does.
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You gather
Documents
We confirm exactly which of these your lender wants before you go looking for any of them.
- Photo identification
- Two recent payslips
- Latest tax return or group certificate
- Three to six months of bank statements
- Evidence of your deposit and how it was saved
- Details of existing debts and card limits
- Evidence of citizenship or permanent residency
- Contract of sale, once you have one
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We handle
Lender selection then submission
We work out which participating lenders read your income type and your deposit history most favourably, show you the comparison, and lodge only once you have chosen. Applying to several to see who says yes is the expensive way to find out.
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We manage
Approval through to settlement
We manage the valuation, the conditions and the lender communication, and coordinate with your conveyancer or solicitor through to settlement. Scheme applications carry an extra layer of checks, and missing one late is what causes the delays people hear about.
Track Record
Independent Since 2005
Joe Sukkar started in finance in 2000 and founded the practice five years later. Residential lending sits with Moufid, who has taken first home buyers through three separate versions of this scheme.
Related Options
Other First Home Buyer Loan Options
The guarantee is one route in. These are the others first home buyers land on next.
Guarantor home loan
When a parent’s equity can do the work a cash deposit would have done.
Mortgage pre-approval
Knowing your ceiling in writing before you start going to inspections.
Joint loans
Buying with a partner, a sibling or a friend, and structuring who owns what.
Construction loans
Building rather than buying, with drawdowns staged against the build.
Land loans
Securing the block now and building when you are ready.
Every home loan we arrange
Back up to the full residential range if none of these is quite it.
Tell Us What You’ve Saved.
We’ll tell you what it buys, and whether the scheme is the right route.Questions Answered
First Home Buyer Loan FAQs
The questions first home buyers ask us most often before getting in touch.
What is the First Home Guarantee?
It is a Commonwealth scheme under which Housing Australia guarantees part of an eligible buyer’s home loan, so the buyer can purchase with a deposit of at least 5 per cent without paying lenders mortgage insurance. It is not a cash payment and there is nothing to repay. It is available through participating lenders only.
How much deposit do I need for the First Home Guarantee?
At least 5 per cent of the property’s value, and less than 20 per cent. The governing instrument requires the loan to value ratio to be above 80 per cent and no more than 95 per cent, so a deposit of 20 per cent or more makes you ineligible for the scheme rather than better placed under it.
Are there income limits on the First Home Guarantee?
No. The instrument that governs the scheme contains no income test and no taxable income threshold for the First Home Guarantee. Some published summaries still quote the old thresholds. Eligibility is assessed by your participating lender, which will still apply its own credit assessment to your income and expenses.
Are the number of places limited?
Not under the instrument. The provision creating First Home Guarantees sets no numerical cap, unlike the closed New Home Guarantee and Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee streams, which both specified a number. Individual participating lenders can still have their own capacity constraints, so which lender you approach can matter.
What is the property price cap?
It depends on the state and the area. In New South Wales the cap is $1,500,000 for a capital city or regional centre and $800,000 elsewhere in the state, as in force from 18 July 2026. Capital city and regional centre are defined terms with boundaries that are not obvious, so check your address before relying on a figure.
Do I have to be a first home buyer?
Not strictly. The test is whether you have held a freehold interest in Australian real property, or certain lease or company title interests, in the last ten years. You must also be at least 18 and an Australian citizen or permanent resident. Someone who owned a home twelve years ago can qualify, which surprises most people.
Does the guarantee protect me if something goes wrong?
No. It protects the lender. The guarantee pays a shortfall to the lender where you have defaulted and the property has been sold for less than the balance owing. You still owe what you owe. It also ceases once your loan balance falls to 80 per cent or less of the property’s value.
Does Best Interests Duty apply, and what does Intellect Finance charge?
Yes it applies. A home loan for a property you will live in is regulated consumer credit, so brokers must act in your best interests and give priority to your interests where they conflict with ours. We charge you nothing on any loan type, and no clawback fee if you discharge early. Lenders pay a commission on settlement, disclosed in writing beforehand.
Visit Us
Penrith Based.Clients Australia-Wide.
Penrith is our head office and the one you can walk into without an appointment. We also meet clients at Parramatta and in the Sydney CBD by arrangement. Most of the process runs by phone, email and video, so we settle loans for first home buyers in every state.
Parramatta
Suite 23, Level 1, 181 Church St, Parramatta NSW 2150
Mortgage broker Parramatta →Ready When You Are
Find Out What Your Deposit Actually Buys.
Fifteen minutes with a residential specialist. We’ll check you against the scheme conditions that actually apply, give you a realistic range, and tell you which participating lenders read your situation most favourably. If waiting six months puts you in a better position, we’ll tell you that instead. No credit check, no paperwork, no obligation. Penrith based, clients Australia-wide. Intellect Finance Pty Ltd, ACL 390611.
A home loan for a property you will live in is regulated consumer credit, so Intellect Finance is legally required to act in your best interests under the Best Interests Duty in the National Consumer Credit Protection Act. Nothing on this page is credit assistance or an offer of credit, eligibility for any government scheme is determined by Housing Australia and your participating lender, and no outcome is guaranteed.
Intellect Finance Pty Ltd | Australian Credit Licence 390611 | MFAA Member | AFCA Member
Important information General information only. Not credit assistance or an offer of credit. We charge you no fee. Every caveat and source on this page is collected here. Tap to read.
General information only. The content on this page is general in nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not credit assistance, financial advice, legal advice or tax advice, and it is not an offer of credit. You should consider whether it is appropriate for you and seek your own advice before acting on it.
Nothing here is a guarantee. Loan approval, borrowing capacity, interest rates, loan to value ratios, valuations, timeframes and eligibility are determined by individual lenders and by independent valuers, not by us. They differ between lenders and change over time, and timeframes also vary with the property and the complexity of the application. Any figure or range on this page is indicative and is not a quote, an offer, or a prediction of your outcome.
Government schemes. Eligibility for the Home Guarantee Scheme is determined by Housing Australia and by the participating lender, not by Intellect Finance. Scheme conditions, property price caps and deposit requirements are set out in the Housing Australia Investment Mandate Direction 2018 and are amended from time to time, sometimes at short notice. The conditions described on this page were checked against the version in force on 18 July 2026. Property price caps differ in every state and territory, and capital city and regional centre are defined terms with boundaries that are not obvious, so check your own address against the government’s property price cap tool before relying on a figure. That instrument was amended five times in the ten months to July 2026, so treat any figure you read anywhere, including here, as needing a date against it. Always confirm the current position with Housing Australia, a participating lender or us before acting.
Best Interests Duty. A home loan for a property you will live in is regulated consumer credit under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009. When providing credit assistance in relation to these products, Intellect Finance is required to act in your best interests and, where there is a conflict of interest, to give priority to your interests. These obligations have applied to mortgage brokers since 1 January 2021.
State grants, duties and concessions. First home owner grants, transfer duty exemptions and concessions are set by each state and territory revenue office and are not covered on this page. Check your own state’s revenue office, and confirm any duty position with your conveyancer or solicitor.
How we are paid. Intellect Finance does not charge borrowers a fee for arranging finance, and does not charge a clawback fee where a loan is discharged early. Lenders pay us a commission on settlement. The basis of that commission is disclosed to you in writing in our Credit Guide before any credit assistance is provided.
Third-party information. Where this page refers to government schemes, regulatory settings or lender policy, that information is sourced from the relevant authority and was correct to the best of our knowledge at the date shown on this page. Those rules change, sometimes without notice. Always confirm the current position with the issuing authority or with us before relying on it.
Found something wrong? If you believe anything on this page is inaccurate or out of date, tell us at joe@intellectfinance.com.au and we will review and correct it.
Intellect Finance Pty Ltd | Australian Credit Licence 390611 | MFAA Member | AFCA Member