Labor adds more fuel to Australia’s resident bonfire

December 1, 2025

The Albanese government has already ignited the housing market with its 5% deposit scheme for first home buyers.

Now housing minister Clare O’Neil is busy spruiking Labor’s Help to Buy shared equity scheme, which launches on 5 December 2025 and is designed to make home ownership more accessible by allowing eligible buyers to purchase a property with the federal government taking up to a 30% equity stake for existing homes and a 40% equity stake for new homes. Buyers also only require as little as a 2% deposit, since the government’s equity reduces the loan size.

This reduces the size of the mortgage and deposit required, but participants must eventually repay the government’s share when they sell or refinance.