It was two in and two out with Westpac and ANZ the also rans as the original, panicky, 2019-election First Home Buyer Scheme took shape. The result? A wreck where affluence and advantage outrun the poor, which is the cohort these seductive but badly-made programs should serve.
Two big banks were chosen to sit out the FHB and they will skip the derivative; ANZ and Westpac once more are missing in action.
Two of Australia's big four banks are omitted from the list of 27 banks participating in a new program to help separated and divorced parents buy a home of their own – the Single Parent Family Home Guarantee.
SingleMum.com.au has the story.
The Single Parent Family Home Guarantee is based on the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme and has the same property price caps. However, unlike that scheme, this is not limited to first home buyers, recognising that many single parents may have previously been home-owners.
The Single Parent Family Home Guarantee will support up to 10,000 divorced or separated parents with dependent children and will start on the 1 July 2021.
A spokeswoman for Michael Sukkar, the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Housing, told Singlemum.com.au that extra places may be added to the program if the 10,000 places are exhausted within four years.
In 2021-22 the government says around 125,000 single parents with dependants may be eligible for this Family Home Guarantee program with 84 per cent (105,000) of them being single mums plus 20,000 single dads.
About 47 per cent of all single-parent families rent from a private landlord (2017-18 numbers), about double the rate (24 per cent) for dual-parent families.
This is the list of 27 lenders; five ASX-listed, with a multitude of the biggest mutual banks and credit unions and Mortgageport and Indigenous Business Australia:
National Australia BankCommonwealth BankAustralian Military BankAuswide BankBank AustraliaBank FirstBank of usBendigo BankBeyond Bank AustraliaCommunity First Credit UnionCUADefence BankGateway BankG&C Mutual BankIndigenous Business AustraliaMortgageportMyState BankPeople’s Choice Credit UnionPolice Bank (including Border Bank and Bank of Heritage Isle)P&N BankQBANKQueensland Country Credit UnionRegional Australia BankAustralian Mutual BankTeachers Mutual Bank (including Firefighters Mutual Bank, Health Professionals Bank, Teachers Mutual Bank and UniBank)The Mutual BankWAW Credit Union
And last but not least, what are the odds this turns out to be a scheme taken up by deadbeat dads rather than struggling mums.
• Thanks to SingleMum.com.au