00:00This was an election commitment, but it was slated for January of next year.
00:06That will now be brought forward to start in October, and the eligibility expanded.
00:12So the income thresholds have been removed, and from October all first home buyers will
00:18be able to access this scheme where they only need to secure a 5% deposit on their first
00:25property, with the government agreeing to go guarantor on the remaining 15% to meet that
00:3020% threshold to avoid having to pay lenders' mortgage insurance, which is an additional
00:37cost when somebody is trying to purchase a home, which can actually amount to tens of thousands
00:44of dollars as well.
00:45So the income thresholds removed, so irrespective of how much you earn, if you're a first home
00:53buyer, you can access this scheme.
00:56Also, the price caps have been lifted so that there's a greater abundance of property for
01:05people to use this scheme to try and buy.
01:08We have heard from the Prime Minister flagging this expansion this morning, saying that it
01:14is one part of a broader scheme to try and address the housing affordability challenge.
01:20What it does is make sure that we get more people into the market, and the full suite of measures
01:26that we're doing is about increased supply.
01:29More supply makes a difference for affordability as well.
01:34There have been questions about what this particular element of the government's broader housing
01:39plan could mean for house prices, with more people having more money to spend, in theory,
01:47and without a further boost in the supply of housing, whether that would simply increase
01:53the price of houses.
01:55We heard in response to that, Treasury analysis suggesting that the impact of this 5% deposit
02:01scheme, the broadening of eligibility, would have a 0.5% increase on house prices.
02:08But that's over six years.
02:10So the government is talking down the prospect of this having a significant impact on house
02:16prices.
02:17They're also at pains to point out some of the other measures that they are taking to
02:21increase supply, or at least push in that direction.
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