Buying your first home is never simple, but from 1 July 2026 it got a little more achievable for a lot of Australians. The federal government’s Help to Buy scheme has opened up 10,000 new places for the 2026–27 financial year, and the income limits that decide who’s eligible have gone up too.
If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines waiting for the numbers to work in your favour, this is worth ten minutes of your time.
What’s actually changed
Two things happened at once. First, 10,000 new places became available under Help to Buy for the current financial year. Second, the income thresholds to qualify were lifted – from $100,000 to $103,000 for single applicants, and from $160,000 to $165,000 for joint applicants and single parents. It’s not a massive jump, but it’s enough to bring more buyers into the eligible bracket, particularly in cities where wages have crept up alongside everything else.
How Help to Buy actually works
Help to Buy is a shared equity scheme, which is a fancy way of saying the government chips in some of the purchase price and takes an ownership share in return. For new homes, that contribution can be as much as 40% of the price; for existing homes, it’s capped a little lower, at up to 30%. Either way, the math is the same: a smaller share to fund yourself means a smaller deposit and a smaller mortgage.
You still hold the title to the property. You still make the mortgage repayments like any other homeowner. The difference is that Housing Australia owns a slice of the equity alongside you, which you can buy back over time or settle up when you eventually sell.
It’s not free money, and it’s not for everyone – sharing equity with the government is a genuine trade-off, not just a leg-up, and it’s worth thinking through what that means if your property grows in value. But for buyers who are otherwise locked out by deposit size alone, it changes the equation.
The demand has been real
Since Help to Buy launched in December 2025, more than 7,200 applications have come in, and 86% of those applicants were first home buyers. The median deposit among successful applicants was just $30,000 – a fraction of what you’d typically need to buy without the scheme’s help.
That’s not a niche program ticking along quietly. That’s a genuine appetite from buyers who’ve been priced out of the market by deposit hurdles rather than by their ability to service a loan.
Is it right for you?
Shared equity isn’t the right fit for every buyer, and it’s not a substitute for having your finances properly sorted before you go house hunting. But if a smaller deposit is the thing standing between you and your first home, it’s worth finding out where you sit against the updated thresholds – especially with more places now on the table for this financial year.
Eligibility rules, price caps and property location requirements all come into play, and they can catch people out if you’re not across the detail. That’s where a proper conversation with a broker earns its keep – not to sell you on the scheme, but to work out honestly whether it stacks up for your situation.
Key takeaways
- 10,000 new Help to Buy places opened for the 2026–27 financial year from 1 July
- Income limits rose to $103,000 (single) and $165,000 (joint/single parent)
- Government equity contribution is up to 30% for existing homes and up to 40% for new homes
- More than 7,200 applications have been received since the scheme launched in December 2025, with 86% from first home buyers and a median deposit of $30,000
- Eligibility and property criteria are specific – it’s worth checking where you stand before you get your hopes up on a particular property
Whether Help to Buy is the right path for you depends on your income, your goals and the property you’ve got your eye on. If you want an honest read on your options, get in touch with Clockwork Finance – we’re based in Richmond, Melbourne, but we work with first home buyers right across Australia.
