The Property Council of Australia has endorsed the federal government’s decision to bring forward the implementation of its expanded First Home Guarantee Scheme, now scheduled to begin on 1 October 2025 – three months earlier than previously planned.

Under the expanded scheme, all first-time home buyers will be able to purchase a home with a 5% deposit while avoiding lenders mortgage insurance. With no caps on income or the number of participants in the scheme, more Australians will be able to realise their dream of home ownership sooner.

Together with the significant housing supply measures announced by the federal government, the scheme’s expansion will bring Australia closer to its target of 1.2 million new homes and make new homes more affordable for first home buyers, according to the Property Council of Australia.

Property Council Chief Executive Mike Zorbas welcomes the accelerated timeline of the First Home Guarantee Scheme, which would improve housing accessibility for first home buyers.

“The average age of first home buyers in our capital cities is approaching 40, and we must pull every available lever to help them into a home,” says Zorbas.

“You stack yesterday’s supply boosters on top of helping first home buyers bridge the deposit gap, and we have a better chance of making our welcome 1.2 million homes target.

“Maintaining confidence in the key consumer segments of the domestic economy has become significantly more important in the current period of global uncertainty,” he adds.

However, Zorbas cautions that the scheme’s design will need to be carefully and regularly reviewed from July 2026 to prevent overheating in key housing markets.

He also emphasises the importance of balancing demand-side support and the significant supply-side measures catalysed by the National Housing Accord, as well as those announced by the government following the Economic Reform Roundtable process.

“At the end of the day, supply, supply and supply are the keys to our terrific and ambitious 1.2 million new homes target. That's why the measures announced yesterday – improvements to the National Construction Code and streamlined processes to clear assessment backlogs, plus delivering up to 35,000 additional new homes through a review of investment settings – are most welcome, alongside this measure to get more first home buyers onto the ownership ladder,” he concludes.

Image: Supplied

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