First Home Buyer Schemes, Stacked: Federal and State in 2026

Help to Buy: shared equity, launched December 2025

The Australian Government launched the Help to Buy shared-equity scheme on 5 December 2025. The scheme allows eligible buyers to purchase with a deposit of as little as 2%, with the government taking an equivalent equity share in the property.

Government equity contribution caps:

• Up to 40% of the purchase price for new homes
• Up to 30% of the purchase price for existing homes
• Income caps: $100,000 for individuals; $160,000 for joint applicants and single parents
• Scale: up to 40,000 households over four years; 10,000 places per year
• Initial lender panel: Bank Australia and Commonwealth Bank of Australia at launch; further lenders joining the panel through 2026

Help to Buy versus the Home Guarantee

The two schemes solve different problems. The Home Guarantee solves the LMI problem: borrowers with a 5% deposit avoid the LMI premium that would otherwise add $20,000 to $40,000 to the cost of acquisition. The Help to Buy scheme solves the deposit problem and the borrowing capacity problem: a 2% deposit plus up to 40% government equity can mean borrowing significantly less, and servicing on a smaller loan is materially easier.

The trade-off with Help to Buy is the equity stake. The government shares in capital growth and any sale proceeds, proportional to its initial contribution. A buyer who later sells, or buys out the government's stake, returns capital based on the market value at that point. For households whose income is expected to grow materially, the trade is real but bounded.

The stack in practice: a recent Maxfin settlement

A recent file Maxfin settled illustrates how the schemes work when they fit a buyer's circumstances. The buyers, a young family in Queensland, had previously been told they couldn't enter the property market on their income.

The structure that settled:

• Purchase price: $780,000 (Queensland)
• Deposit contributed: 5% of the purchase price
• Government equity stake (Help to Buy): 30% of the property value
• Loan amount: $517,000
• LMI: none (Help to Buy structure)

Why the stack worked

The 30% government equity stake meant the buyers borrowed against approximately 70% of the property value rather than 95%. The $517,000 loan was materially smaller than what the buyers would have needed under a standard 95% LVR purchase, and servicing on the smaller loan brought the file inside the lender's borrowing capacity assessment.

The trade-off the family accepted: the government holds an equity stake in the property and shares in capital growth. The family now owns the home they live in. They retain the option to buy out the government's stake later, in part or in full, as their position improves.

Outcomes vary by buyer and lender, and Help to Buy's lender panel and place allocation are managed centrally by Housing Australia. The case here is an example of one structure that worked, not a guarantee that the same numbers will be available to another buyer, subject to scheme eligibility and lender criteria.

State-by-state stamp duty position (2026)

Stamp duty concessions are state-government policy and vary by jurisdiction. The 2026 position for the three largest first-home buyer markets:

• NSW (Revenue NSW): Full transfer duty exemption for new or established homes valued up to $800,000. Concessional rates for properties $800,000 to $1,000,000. Vacant land: full exemption to $350,000, concessional to $450,000. Buyer must occupy as principal place of residence within twelve months.
• Victoria (State Revenue Office): First home buyer pays $0 duty on properties up to $600,000. Sliding-scale concession $600,001 to $750,000. Buyer must occupy as principal place of residence for at least twelve continuous months within the first twelve months of settlement.
• Queensland (Queensland Revenue Office): From the May 2025 reforms, eligible first home buyers purchasing a brand-new home receive a full transfer duty exemption with no value cap. For established homes, full exemption applies up to $700,000, with concession on a sliding scale to $800,000.

Stacking schemes correctly

Federal guarantees and state stamp duty concessions can typically be combined where the borrower meets eligibility criteria for each. Help to Buy is a separate pathway with its own deposit structure and lender panel; it's typically chosen as an alternative to the Home Guarantee on a given purchase, though it can stack with state stamp duty concessions and other state-based first home buyer support, depending on the jurisdiction.

Common stacks Maxfin sees in 2026:

• NSW first-home buyer at $750,000: Home Guarantee (5% deposit, no LMI) plus full stamp duty exemption. Out-of-pocket costs reduce by tens of thousands of dollars.
• Victorian first-home buyer at $620,000: Home Guarantee plus partial stamp duty concession (sliding scale).
• Queensland first-home buyer at $850,000 buying new build: Home Guarantee plus full stamp duty exemption (no value cap on new builds).
• Lower-income buyer at any state: Help to Buy as an alternative to the Home Guarantee, where the household qualifies under the income caps and the trade-off on equity stake is acceptable.

How Maxfin sequences a first-home file

The first conversation maps which schemes the buyer is eligible for, against the property price range and location they are targeting. Eligibility cuts off cleanly at certain thresholds; missing one by a few thousand dollars can change the cost of acquisition by tens of thousands.

Lender selection then becomes the next decision. Not every lender on the LMG aggregator panel participates in every scheme. The Home Guarantee operates through a panel of approved lenders. Help to Buy currently operates through Bank Australia and CBA, with more joining. Maxfin matches the eligible scheme stack to a lender that participates in all of them and has appetite for the file's overall profile.

Settlement timing is then sequenced so contract conditions, scheme application timelines, and lender approval windows align. First-home schemes have administrative deadlines that don't move. Missing one is reversible only at the cost of starting the file again.