Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee
We’re an approved lender for the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee (RFHBG).
Your regional customers may be eligible.
We are accepting applications for FY23-24 Scheme Places.
MyState Bank is a Participating Lender for the Australian Government’s Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee (RFHBG).
What is it?
The RFHBG is an Australian Government initiative to support eligible home buyers purchase a home sooner, in a regional area.
How does the RFHBG work?
Usually home buyers with less than a 20% deposit need to pay lenders mortgage insurance. Under the RFHBG, eligible home buyers can purchase a modest home in a regional area with a deposit of as little as 5% (subject to MyState lending criteria). This is because Housing Australia guarantees up to 15% of the value of the property purchased.
If you have a regional customer that you think they may be eligible, here are your next steps:
Review the scheme requirements
The official Housing Australia website has guidelines regarding property price thresholds, customer incomes and other criteria. Here you will find the RFHBG Fact Sheet to learn more.
Submit the loan application
Make sure you include ALL of the supporting documents in our Broker Submission Checklist – PLUS any extras required by the scheme, including the Home Buyer Declaration.
What is a regional area?
A regional area is defined as:
- the Statistical Area Level 4 (ASGS SA4 2016) areas in a State or the Northern Territory that are not a capital city of that State or Territory; and
- Norfolk Island; or the Territories of Jervis Bay, Christmas Island or Cocos (Keeling) Islands;
as defined in the version published by The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in July 2016.
The greater capital city areas of each state and the Northern Territory; and the entire Australian Capital Territory are excluded from the RFHBG. Home buyers in these areas may be eligible for the First Home Guarantee or Family Home Guarantee.
Access the Regional Checker – allows home buyers to enter the suburb (or postcode) of their current home and the suburb (or postcode) they would like to purchase in, so they can confirm if they would be eligible for the RFHBG.
Contact MyState for more information, including which regional areas you may be able to purchase in.
Is your customer eligible?
If you can tick off all of these requirements, then most likely, your customer is eligible to receive the offer:
- They are individual or joint applications..
- They’re Australian citizens and permanent residents who are at least 18 years of age
- They pass an income test
- They have at least a 5% deposit saved
- They (or at least one applicant if applying as joint applicants) have lived in the regional area or adjacent regional area they are purchasing in for the preceding 12-month period to the date they execute the home loan agreement.
- They are either first home buyers or previous homeowners who haven’t owned a property in Australia in the past 10 years. Prior property ownership includes an interest in real property (including owning land) in Australia, a lease of land in Australia or a company title interest in land in Australia.
- They are going to live in the property (not an investment)
- The property they are looking to purchase falls within the Property Price Thresholds
Find out more about the eligibility requirements on the official Housing Australia website and by downloading the RFHBG Fact Sheet.
Income Test
The Scheme includes an income test for:
- Individual applicants – the taxable income for the previous financial year must not be more than $125,000
- Joint applicants – the combined taxable income for the previous income year must not be more than $200,000
Property Price Thresholds
There is a maximum property purchase price under the Scheme which applies in capital cities, large regional centres and regional areas. You can find a list of the property price thresholds as well as a tool to search by postcode on the Housing Australia website.
