Especially when it’s your first time buying a home, thinking about the type of home you want to buy, who you might share the ownership with and how much you may need to borrow or save can seem overwhelming.
CommBank works with a number of organisations and initiatives designed to help reduce the challenges of housing affordability or eliminate common barriers to home ownership, which could help get you into your own home faster. Here are five innovative pathways to owning your own home.
1. Home ownership schemes & grants
There are several state and territory-based initiatives supporting people into home ownership across the country. If you don’t happen to see your state here, don’t worry – by contacting your local housing authority in your relevant state, territory or region you can obtain further information around assistance options that may be available to you.
Here are just a few of them:
- The First Home Buyers Guarantee (FHBG) – supports eligible first home buyers to buy their first home sooner, with a deposit of as little as five percent.
- The Family Home Guarantee (FHG) – supports eligible single parents with at least one dependent to buy a home, with a deposit of as little as two percent.
- The Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee (RFHBG) – supports eligible first home buyers who have lived in an eligible region for the past 12 months and are looking to purchase in that region/adjacent region, with a deposit of as little as five percent.
- NSW: Aboriginal Housing Office - The Aboriginal Home Buyer Saver offers financial support for Aboriginal people who are ready to take the next step towards home ownership. The scheme consists of grants that eligible Aboriginal people can apply for to access a one-off financial boost for the purchase of a home.
- Victoria: The Victorian Homebuyer Fund – Eligible Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander homebuyers can receive a contribution of up to 35% towards the purchase price of their property, reducing their minimum required deposit to 3.5% and avoiding the need to pay Lenders Mortgage Insurance.
2. CBA & IBA split home loans
CommBank and Indigenous Business Australia (IBA) home loans offer a split home loan arrangement that allows Indigenous Australians to enter the housing market. We can provide a loan of up to a maximum of 80%, with the remaining contribution being provided from a combination of IBA finance and any deposit savings an eligible applicant may have.
CommBank can work with you to determine how much we could potentially lend towards the purchase price of your home. If there is a gap between the amount required and the amount you're eligible for, then IBA can determine if you qualify for a joint IBA loan to cover this gap.
IBA also holds home ownership workshops to help you through the process – simply complete their expression of interest form to register for one.
3. Property Share
Property Share allows multiple customers to purchase a single property using separate loan applications. This can be a suitable option for:
- First home buyers looking to buy property with friends or family
- Multiple investors looking to invest together but keep their finances separate
4. Guarantor support
A guarantor is someone who can help you secure a home loan by agreeing to offer their own property as additional security for your loan.
By having someone else provide a guarantee, we may be able to lend to you in situations where you may not be able to secure the full loan amount by yourself.
Alternatively, we may be able to lend you more than our original offer based on this guarantee. However, there are conditions that both you and the guarantor must be aware of before entering into this type of loan.
5. Low deposit solutions
Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) and Low Deposit Premium (LDP) are both one-off, non-refundable, non-transferrable charges that we may add to low deposit home loans. Designed to reflect the risk associated with low deposit loans, LMI/LDP are calculated based on the size of your deposit and how much you borrow. The more you contribute to the purchase price of your property, the lower the additional costs will be.
LMI/LDP protect the bank against any loss we may incur if you're unable to repay your loan – they don’t protect the borrower.
The circumstances of your home loan will determine whether it incurs LMI or LDP. You’ll only need to pay for one – not both.
Other types of home loans
Depending on your financial goals, needs and objectives, the below options may also support you in your home ownership journey.
