First Home Guarantee 2026: Australia 5% Deposit Scheme, Price Caps & Eligibility
Australia 5% Deposit Scheme 2026: Current Price Caps, Eligibility and How Much Deposit You Really Need Australia | October 13, 2026 Australia’s low-deposit homebuyer scheme has just passed an important milestone. More than 102,000 first-home buyers used the expanded Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme during its first year , according to Housing Australia data released by the federal government on October 1. The scheme changed substantially on October 1, 2025. Income limits were removed, the number of available places became unlimited and property-price caps were increased. It is the programme previously known as the Home Guarantee Scheme , including the First Home Guarantee. For an eligible first-home buyer, the headline benefit is simple: you may be able to buy a home with a deposit as small as 5% without paying Lenders Mortgage Insurance. But that sentence can also be misleading if it is taken to mean buying with 5% is automatically affordable or low risk. Australia’s hous...