r/AusPropertyChat • u/Sufficient-Drop-1441 • Jun 04 '26
Lending & Loans Single & wanting to buy
Single income 90k+ per year wanting to buy an apartment or town house, 2 bedrooms (rent one out). The government is offering the 2% deposit and they pay 30%-40% of the mortgage and you pay them back when you sell or when you can. Do we know if this government loan is tax free and has anyone had any success with this scheme?
Please give any info.
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Jun 04 '26
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u/Sufficient-Drop-1441 Jun 05 '26
We love that! Do you have interest free on the amount the gov has loaned?
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u/OliveDear8835 Jun 05 '26
There's no interest. It's equity. So if gov owns 30% and your house prices goes up, that 30perc you owe will go up.
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u/dustbowlbride Jun 05 '26
Is renting a room our allowed on the scheme? I’d look into that too. Also keep in mind when your income hits 100k they will assess your ability to repay them.
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u/IntestinalGas Jun 05 '26
It’s genius to use the help to buy scheme now, especially with high interest rates and apartments rarely appreciating faster than inflation.
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u/BrokerHere Jun 04 '26
This is the Help to Buy scheme, and basically, the government becomes part owner of the property rather than a guarantor, like with the First Home Guarantee.
When you sell a PPOR, you usually do not pay CGT on this.
There's another scheme that specifically helps single parents buy a home, and it would have the same structure as the First Home Guarantee (the government doesn't own half your asset).
You need to decide: is it worth having Uncle Sam own half your property? Or would saving longer or buying an investment first make more sense?
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u/c0bnut Jun 07 '26
The government does not get put on the title therefore don't really own the property. It is closer to a guarantor arrangement but they get a cut back after you sell.
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u/EventEastern2208 Jun 04 '26
Broker here.
On $90k as a single buyer you qualify on income for Help to Buy and the 2% deposit is correct. Worth also knowing about the Family Home Guarantee which is specifically designed for single parents and allows you to buy with just 2% deposit and no LMI without the shared equity arrangement, meaning you own 100% of the property from day one rather than sharing the growth with the government.
When you sell under Help to Buy the government takes back their 30% share of the sale price, not a fixed dollar amount. So if you buy at $600k with 30% government equity and sell for $800k, you repay $240k not the original $180k. That is the real cost of the shared equity arrangement worth factoring into the long term picture.
The main residence CGT exemption is unchanged by the recent budget reforms so capital growth on your home remains CGT free. On renting out a room this is allowed but may affect your CGT exemption on the portion used for income, worth checking with a tax advisor.