Australia 5% Deposit Scheme: deposits and current caps

This guide describes the published deposit requirement, unlimited places and property price caps for Australia’s expanded home guarantee scheme.

Source: Housing Australia and Australian Government First Home Buyers, current property price caps. Original explanation; no endorsement.Checked 4 October 2026·2 min read

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Published expansion and deposit requirement Places and application route Capital cities and named regional centres Other states and territories Guarantee and calculator boundaries

Published minimum deposit: As little as 5% for eligible first home buyersHousing Australia scheme expansion
Places: No place limits from 1 October 2025Housing Australia scheme expansion

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Mortgage repayment scenario

Model repayments from entered assumptions; scheme eligibility and purchase costs are outside this calculator.

Published expansion and deposit requirement

The Australian Government’s expansion of the Home Guarantee Scheme took effect on 1 October 2025. Eligible first home buyers can enter with a deposit as little as 5% and avoid lenders mortgage insurance under the scheme. Housing Australia scheme expansion (opens in a new tab).

The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme was formerly known as the Home Guarantee Scheme. Australian Government scheme overview (opens in a new tab).

Places and application route

The expansion removed limits on the number of government guarantees available and removed income caps for first home buyers. Housing Australia scheme expansion (opens in a new tab).

Applications go through participating lenders. The announcement describes lenders submitting eligible applications to Housing Australia and processing pre-approval. Housing Australia scheme expansion (opens in a new tab).

Capital cities and named regional centres

The current published property price caps are A$1,500,000 for New South Wales capital city and regional centres, A$950,000 for Victoria capital city and regional centres, and A$1,000,000 for Queensland capital city and regional centres. Australian Government property price caps (opens in a new tab).

The named regional centres are Central Coast, Coffs Harbour - Grafton, Illawarra, Mid North Coast, Richmond-Tweed, Newcastle and Lake Macquarie in New South Wales; Geelong in Victoria; and Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Other-area caps are A$800,000 in New South Wales, A$650,000 in Victoria and A$700,000 in Queensland. Australian Government property price caps (opens in a new tab).

Other states and territories

Western Australia’s capital-city cap is A$850,000 and its other-area cap is A$600,000. South Australia’s caps are A$900,000 and A$500,000 respectively; Tasmania’s are A$700,000 and A$550,000 respectively. Australian Government property price caps (opens in a new tab).

The Australian Capital Territory cap is A$1,000,000 and the Northern Territory capital-city cap is A$750,000 and rest-of-Territory cap is A$600,000. Jervis Bay Territory and Norfolk Island have an A$550,000 cap; Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands have an A$400,000 cap. Australian Government property price caps (opens in a new tab).

Guarantee and calculator boundaries

Housing Australia administers the scheme. Its announcement links the changed property caps to the Housing Australia Investment Mandate amendment and says the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee is replaced by the First Home Guarantee. Housing Australia scheme expansion (opens in a new tab).

This general explanation supplies no approval, grant entitlement, lender quote or future property-price cap. The mortgage calculator models repayments from entered assumptions; it does not assess guarantee eligibility or include all purchase costs.