Commonwealth Bank among 27 lenders endorsed for the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme
There have been 27 lenders endorsed to participate in the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme which kicks in at the beginning of next year.
There will no doubt be a huge amount of first home buyers looking to secure one of only 10,000 opportunities across to country to access the extra lending.
Some 100,000 first home buyers are forecast to be entering the market in 2020, however 2020 will see 20,000 home loans written for the scheme given the cut off dates in the future will be July 1.
The scheme will enable first home buyers who have only been able to save five per cent deposit to gain a further 15 percent to take them to the 20 per cent mark, forgoing lenders mortgage insurance.
Commonwealth Bank have joined the NAB as the only two major lenders after Westpac were dumped following their recent scandal.
The full list of lenders are:
Major bank lenders | ||
National Australia Bank | Commonwealth Bank of Australia | |
Non-major lenders | ||
Australian Military Bank | Auswide Bank | Bank Australia |
Bank First | Bank of us | Bendigo Bank |
Beyond Bank Australia | Community First Credit Union | CUA |
Defence Bank | Gateway Bank | G&C Mutual Bank |
Indigenous Business Australia | Mortgageport | MyState Bank |
People’s Choice Credit Union | Police Bank (including the Border Bank and Bank of Heritage Isle) | P&N Bank |
QBANK | Queensland Country Credit Union | Regional Australia Bank |
Sydney Mutual Bank and Endeavour Mutual Bank (divisions of Australian Mutual Bank Ltd) | Teachers Mutual Bank Limited (including Firefighters Mutual Bank, Health Professionals Bank, Teachers Mutual Bank and UniBank) | The Mutual Bank |
WAW Credit Union |
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All lenders have committed not to charge eligible customers higher interest rates than equivalent customers outside of the Scheme.
Michael Sukkar, the minister for housing and the assistant treasurer, said the Morrison Coalition Government is committed to helping make home ownership a reality for more Australians and to get them into the property market sooner.
"The Scheme has been warmly welcomed by major industry peak bodies, and the composition of the initial lending panel reflects the industry’s confidence in the Morrison Coalition Government’s plan to assist first home buyers", Sukkar said.
"Further, the Scheme has been deliberately designed to ensure strong representation of smaller lenders on the panel. This will promote competition between the large and small banks, and ensure the Scheme has broad geographic reach, including in regional and remote communities.
Graham Wolfe, managing director at The Housing Industry Association, said it's encouraging to see so many lenders wanting to be involved.
“The Government’s commitment to involve a range of lenders in the Scheme is important in ensuring that first home buyers have a genuine choice from whom they obtain their home loan,” said HIA Managing Director, Graham Wolfe.
"Their commitment to offer the same interest rates to participants in the Scheme is also critical", Wolfe said.
“Home ownership provides people with stability in so many aspects of their life. Housing supply needs to remain a national priority to stem the decline in home ownership rates in Australia in the last 25 years.
“HIA has long argued for a national approach to addressing the added costs that affect the final price of a home for many first home buyers.
“The time it takes to save a 20 per cent deposit, along with the added upfront cost of mortgage insurance, along with stamp duty and securing finance, remains one of the main barriers to people’s home ownership aspiration.
“Helping 10,000 first home buyers a year achieve their home ownership dream sooner by providing a guarantee under this Scheme to remove one of these added costs will make a real difference.
“With the house price caps and lenders panel now locked in, people saving for their first home can begin to make a choice about whether to take up the opportunity in the new year and get into their first home sooner.”
Applicants will be subject to eligibility criteria, including having taxable incomes up to $125,000 per annum for singles and up to $200,000 per annum for couples and eligible dwelling price thresholds.
