A bill to establish a national shared equity scheme for low and middle income earners looking to buy a home was passed in the House of Representatives this week, but it may face a tougher passage in the Senate. The Greens have threatened to oppose the bill in the upper house unless the government takes more steps to alleviate the housing shortage and poor housing affordability. Under the program, Housing Australia will administer the scheme, providing eligible participants with a commonwealth equity contribution of up to 30 per cent of the purchase price of an existing home and 40 per cent of a new home. Homebuyers will need a minimum 2 per cent deposit to participate and will qualify for a standard home loan (with no lenders mortgage insurance). The equity contribution means that borrowers’ monthly repayments will be lower. Minister for Housing Julie Collins said the scheme would make a home purchase affordable for around 40,000 households. Participation will be capped at 10,000 a year. All states have agreed to introduce legislation so that the scheme can operate nationally. The territories will participate in the scheme from commencement. The bill was passed without amendment, despite changes proposed by three crossbench members. The Greens have said the measure is token, helping only around 0.2 per cent of home buyers each year. Greens housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather said his party would like to see the government do more, including introducing caps on rental increases, building more public housing and winding back tax breaks for residential property investors. The Minister for Housing Julie Collins said in a statement yesterday: “It is deeply disappointing that some parliamentarians are using this bill as an opportunity to grandstand and try to grab a headline, rather than help Australians. “We have already helped more than 100,000 people into home ownership and Help to Buy will mean even more Australians have this opportunity.”