Joint Ownership With Government The Federal Government’s new Help to Buy Scheme is expected to start early next year. The scheme is similar to a “shared equity” scheme which operates in the United Kingdom, which has 200,000 homes under shared ownership. The details of the Australian scheme were announced last week. With the Government holding up to 40% of the ownership of new homes and 30% of existing homes.
In Australia applicants can only have a maximum salary of $90,000, or $120,000 for couples and they require a 2% deposit. There are 40,000 places allocated in the scheme during the first four years. There will be different price points for homes eligible to be purchased under the scheme depending on which state they are in and whether they are in capital city or regional areas. UNSW associate professor, Mark Humphery-Jenner, says the scheme “may work to a degree” if it is carefully managed, although he does not believe it will improve supply issues substantially.
