Help to Buy: who it suits, from couples on modest incomes to single parents after a separation

How does Help to Buy work?

You contribute at least 2% of the purchase price, a participating lender provides a home loan for most of the rest, and the government contributes between 5% and 30% of the price of an existing home, or between 5% and 40% of a new one, in return for a matching share of the home's value. You pay no rent or interest on the government's share and make no repayments to it while you hold the home.

The home is yours and it is in your name. When you sell, or when you buy the government's share back, it receives the same proportion of the home's value at that time, so it shares in both gains and losses. You can buy it back in steps of at least 5% of the home's value whenever you are able to.¹

The government's share is not a fixed amount you choose. You must put in the maximum reasonable deposit you can afford, and the lender runs a financial capacity test that looks at your savings, assets and debts. If you could buy the home with your own savings and borrowing alone, you are not eligible.¹ The government fills the gap, and no more than the gap.

Who is eligible for Help to Buy?

You must be an Australian citizen aged 18 or over, live in the home as your principal place of residence, and have a taxable income on your most recent Notice of Assessment of $103,000 or less as an individual, or $165,000 or less for joint applicants or a single parent. Those caps apply from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 and are indexed each July.

The rest of the test is about what you own now and what else you are using, not about your history as a buyer.¹²

• You can't own any property in Australia or overseas when you apply, directly or beneficially. Single parents have exceptions, set out below.¹
• You don't need to be a first home buyer. The test is whether you own property now, not whether you have owned before.¹
• Child support and lump-sum workers' compensation payments are not counted as income.¹
• The price must sit under the cap for the area: for example $1,300,000 in Sydney and the NSW regional centres, $950,000 in Melbourne and Geelong, and $1,000,000 in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast and Canberra.³
• It can't be combined with another shared equity scheme or a government-backed guarantee, such as the 5% Deposit Scheme, but state first home owner grants and stamp duty concessions can still apply.¹

Does Help to Buy suit a couple on modest incomes with a small deposit?

Yes, this is the household the scheme was designed for: a couple with a combined taxable income of $165,000 or less who can afford the repayments on a loan but haven't saved a full deposit. Help to Buy lets them buy with 2% down, without lenders mortgage insurance, and with a smaller loan because the government's share covers part of the price.

Take Sam and Alex, an invented couple, not clients of ours, buying a $700,000 existing home. Before stamp duty and other costs, their 2% deposit is $14,000. If the lender's assessment supported the maximum 30% government share of $210,000, their home loan would be about $476,000. A standard 5% deposit loan on the same home would be $665,000, plus mortgage insurance. The share the government actually takes depends on the lender's assessment of what Sam and Alex can afford.¹

What to weigh: the government shares in the home's growth for as long as it holds its share, and if the couple's income goes over the cap for 2 financial years in a row, they may be asked to buy back part or all of it, depending on what they can afford at the time.¹ Places are limited, with 10,000 available nationally for 2026-27.⁴

Sam and Alex: the same $700,000 home, 2 ways

Help to Buy: deposit	$14,000 (2%)
Help to Buy: government share	$210,000 (30%)
Help to Buy: home loan	$476,000
Standard 5% deposit: deposit	$35,000 (5%)
Standard 5% deposit: home loan	$665,000, plus mortgage insurance

Invented couple. Existing home, maximum 30% government share assumed; before stamp duty, legal costs and, on the 5% path, mortgage insurance. Illustration only.

Can a single parent use Help to Buy to keep the family home after a separation?

Yes. If you are a single parent and own the family home jointly with your former partner, you can use Help to Buy to buy out their share and become the sole owner. The government contributes the shortfall that your own equity and borrowing can't cover.

Housing Australia's own example: Maria and her former partner jointly own a $500,000 home. Under their separation agreement she can buy his 50% share for $250,000. She can borrow $150,000, leaving her $100,000 short. The government contributes the $100,000, and after the buyout Maria owns 80% of the home and the government 20%.¹

For the scheme, a single parent is someone with no spouse or de facto partner and at least one dependent.¹ If you are separated but not yet divorced, Housing Australia says to speak with the participating lender, so that is one of the first things we check before anything else is planned around it.

Separated and working out whether you can keep the home? Send us the situation and you'll have a personal answer within 24 hours. Ask about your situation →

Can a single parent who still owns a home buy a different one?

Yes, provided the existing property is sold within 4 weeks of settling on the new one. That suits a parent who needs a home closer to the children's school, or one that fits the household after the separation, without renting in between.

Single parents are also assessed against the $165,000 cap rather than the $103,000 individual cap, so one income above $103,000 can still qualify.¹² If the sale can't happen within 4 weeks, Housing Australia considers each case individually and can extend the period where:¹

• you are experiencing hardship that makes selling impractical
• you can give valid reasons for the delay
• other compassionate circumstances apply

What if I'm separated with no dependants and still on the title?

The property exceptions are for single parents only. If you have no dependants and still own part of a former home, you won't meet the ownership rule until your share has been sold or transferred.

Once you are off the title, you are assessed as an individual against the $103,000 cap, on your own most recent Notice of Assessment.¹ Keep the financial capacity test in mind: it counts your savings and assets, so a large property settlement can mean you are able to buy without help, and then the scheme isn't available.¹

• Your share of the former home has been sold or transferred, so you own no property when you apply
• Your own taxable income is $103,000 or less on your most recent Notice of Assessment
• Your settlement money doesn't let you buy without help, once your savings and assets are counted

Who doesn't Help to Buy suit?

Help to Buy suits a buyer who can afford the repayments but can't borrow the full price. It suits buyers less well when their income is about to rise, when they aren't citizens, or when they could manage without it.

For some buyers the 5% Deposit Scheme is the better fit: it has no government equity share, no income cap and no limit on places, and it is open to permanent residents as well as citizens.⁵ Single parents and legal guardians can use it with a 2% deposit, and don't have to be first home buyers.⁵ We compare the 2 side by side before you choose.

• A couple or single on a modest income who can service a loan but not a full deposit
• A single parent buying out a former partner's share of the family home
• A single parent moving to a home that fits the household after a separation
• Anyone whose income is likely to rise well above the cap: 2 financial years in a row over it can lead to a required buy-back, priced at the home's value at that time¹
• Permanent residents: the scheme is for Australian citizens only
• Investors: you must live in the home, and it can't be rented out
• Buyers who could manage without it: the financial capacity test exists to exclude them

Which lenders take Help to Buy?

7 brands from 4 lenders are approved for Help to Buy: Commonwealth Bank, Bank Australia, Teachers Mutual Bank Limited's 4 brands (Teachers Mutual Bank, Health Professionals Bank, Firefighters Mutual Bank and UniBank), and Queensland Country Bank. Commonwealth Bank takes Help to Buy applications only directly, not through brokers.

Through a broker, the routes are Bank Australia, Queensland Country Bank, which joined in October 2026 through its branches and brokers, and Teachers Mutual, which has opened Help to Buy to a first group of trained brokers with wider broker access expected in 2027.⁶⁷ Our reviews of Commonwealth Bank, Bank Australia and Teachers Mutual Bank set out how each lender works beyond the scheme.

We check your eligibility, model Help to Buy against the 5% Deposit Scheme, and tell you plainly which lender can take your application, including when that means applying to a lender directly.

Help to Buy participating lenders

Lender	Brands	Through a broker?
Commonwealth Bank	Commonwealth Bank	No, direct applications only
Bank Australia	Bank Australia	Yes
Teachers Mutual Bank Limited	Teachers Mutual Bank Health Professionals Bank Firefighters Mutual Bank UniBank	Yes, opening in stages, starting with a first group of trained brokers
Queensland Country Bank	Queensland Country Bank	Yes, since October 2026, and through its branches

Housing Australia's participating lender list and Australian Broker, 8 October 2026.

What order do the Help to Buy steps go in?

Tax return first, then the lender, then the home, then settlement. Your place is reserved for up to 90 days once the lender approves you, so the home search starts after that approval, not before it.

Housing Australia recommends getting independent legal and financial advice before you commit.¹ For a separation, that includes your family lawyer, because the property settlement and the Help to Buy application need to line up.

1. Lodge your tax return. Your most recent Notice of Assessment is required, whatever your income.¹
2. Apply through a participating lender. The lender assesses you and, if you qualify, your place is reserved for up to 90 days while you look for a home, with one further 90-day extension available on request.¹
3. Find a home under the price cap and sign the contract, with a subject-to-finance clause if you're using one.¹
4. Final approval and settlement. You sign the participation agreement with Housing Australia and settle.¹