Available until June 2025, the guarantee has 5,000 application spots up for grabs each financial year for single parents or guardians with as little as a 2% deposit.
What is the Family Home Guarantee?
The Family Home Guarantee is a component of the government’s Home Guarantee Scheme, designed to help support eligible single parents or guardians with at least one dependent child purchase a home sooner.
It is administered by Housing Australia (formerly the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation) on behalf of the Australian Government.
Under the scheme, 5,000 guarantees will be made available each financial year to help single parents or guardians purchase a property with as little as a 2% deposit without having to pay lenders mortgage insurance (LMI). This means you can borrow up to 98% of the property’s value.
Eligible participants can either be a first home buyer or a previous owner-occupier and must pay principal & interest (P&I), and take out a loan no longer than 30 years.
The Family Home Guarantee can be used to build a new home or purchase an existing property.
Family Home Guarantee price caps
For single parents or guardians looking to take advantage of the scheme, there are property price caps to be aware of. Ultimately, the cap depends on which state or territory you live in and the regional area within the states. The table below shows just how much you can spend on a first home in specific regions to be eligible to receive the Family Home Guarantee.
| State | Capital City & Regional Centres | Rest of State |
| New South Wales | $900,000 | $750,000 |
| Victoria | $800,000 | $650,000 |
| Queensland | $700,000 | $550,000 |
| Western Australia | $600,000 | $450,000 |
| South Australia | $600,000 | $450,000 |
| Tasmania | $600,000 | $450,000 |
| Australian Capital Territory | $750,000 | |
| Northern Territory | $600,000 | |
| Jervis Bay Territory and Norfolk Island | $550,000 | |
| Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands | $400,000 |
Source: National Housing Finance & Investment Corporation
*Regional centres are Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, Illawarra, Geelong, Gold Coast, and Sunshine Coast.
Family Home Guarantee eligibility
To be eligible, single parents or legal guardians must show (for the purposes of the Social Security Act 1991) that they are legally responsible for the day-to-day care, welfare, and development of the dependent child, and that the dependent child is in their care.
To qualify for this federal government scheme, you will need to:
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Be an Australian citizen or permanent resident aged over 18 years.
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Be single and a natural or adoptive parent or a legal guardian with at least one dependent child living with you. A person is considered single if they don’t have a spouse or de factor partner.
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Have earned $125,000 or less last financial year.
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Have at least a 2% deposit and not more than 20%.
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Plan to live in the property you’re buying and only own the one property upon settlement.
Eligible properties
Under the Family Home Guarantee, a property must be a ‘residential property’ to be considered eligible. This includes
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an existing house, townhouse or apartment
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a house and land package
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land and a separate contract to build a home
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an off-the-plan apartment or townhouse
Before taking up any of these guarantees, home buyers should discuss their individual circumstances with a participating lender.
Participating lenders
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Commonwealth Bank
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NAB
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Westpac
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RAMS
- BankSA
- Bank of Melbourne
- St George
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Australian Military Bank
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Australian Mutual Bank
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Auswide Bank
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Bank Australia
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Bank First
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Bank of Heritage Isle
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Bank of Us
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bcu
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Bendigo Bank
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Beyond Bank Australia
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Border Bank
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Community First Credit Union
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Credit Union SA
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Defence Bank
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Firefighters Mutual Bank
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G&C Mutual Bank
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Gateway Bank
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Great Southern Bank
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Health Professionals Bank
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Indigenous Business Australia
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Illawarra Credit Union
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IMB Bank
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Mortgageport
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Newcastle Permanent Building Society
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P&N Bank
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People First Bank (formerly People's Choice, renamed following its merger with Heritage Bank)
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Police Bank
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QBANK
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Queensland Country Bank
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Regional Australia Bank
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Teachers Mutual Bank
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The Mutual Bank
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UniBank
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Unity Bank Limited
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WAW
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First published on October 2022
Image by Daria Obymaha via Pexels
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