The government’s allocation of 30,000 additional places under its First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, New Home Guarantee and a new scheme, Family Home Guarantee, took effect yesterday.

• 10,000 First Home Loan Deposit Scheme places will be available to eligible first home buyers from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022;• the New Home Guarantee has been extended, with an additional 10,000 places available from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022; and• 10,000 Family Home Guarantees will be made available over four financial years from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2025.

The Family Home Guarantee was introduced in the Budget as a support program for single parents with dependants. Eligible single parents can use the scheme to purchase an existing home or build a new home.

Under the scheme, the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation guarantees to a participating lender up to 18 per cent of the value of the property, provided the borrower has a minimum 2 per cent deposit.

The single parent must have a taxable income that does not exceed A$125,000 a year (child support payments are not included in the cap). Applicants do not need to be first home buyers but they cannot own a home when they apply. Property price thresholds apply.

The First Home Loan Deposit Scheme and the New Home Guarantee were introduced in 2020 and have provided support to around 30,000 first home buyers since then.

Under the FHLDS, eligible first home buyers can purchase a home with a deposit of as little as 5 per cent. The NHFIC guarantees a scheme lender up to 15 per cent of the value of the property.

The New Home Guarantee works like the FHLDS and is designed for first home buyers looking to build or purchase a new home.

New property price caps also apply from July 1, with details on the NHFIC website.

Commonwealth Bank has estimated that these schemes have allowed first home buyers to get into the market an average 4.8 years faster than if they had to save a full deposit.