Shared Equity Home Buyer Helper
About Shared Equity
Shared Equity is a NSW Government initiative for people to buy a home, up to a certain value, when they would otherwise not be approved for a mortgage because of their circumstances.
It's open to single parents, older singles and victim-survivors of domestic and family violence who may or may not have been homeowners in the past, and eligible key workers looking to buy their first home.
Shared Equity is a 2-year pilot program. In the 2022-2023 financial year, Shared Equity is available to 3000 participants.
Another 3000 places will be available in the 2023-2024 financial year.
Eligibility – who can apply?
To be eligible, you must meet certain criteria, including those based on your income and assets.
Shared Equity is an initiative that assists people who are looking to own a NSW property to live in, who might not otherwise be able to purchase a home. You will be able to participate only if you require assistance from both the NSW Government and the lending partner to purchase a home. See the glossary for a definition of lending partner.
You must be:
at least 18 years old
an Australian citizen or permanent resident (including a New Zealand citizen with a special category visa).
You must also be one or more of the following:
a single parent with a dependent child or children
a single person, aged 50 or older
a first home buyer employed as a key worker (nurses, midwives, paramedics, teachers, early childhood educators or police officers)
a victim-survivor of a domestic and family violence incident within the last 5 years, or up to 10 years with legal evidence.
you must also live in the home you purchase.
Note: single parents, singles over 50 and victim-survivors of domestic and family violence who are otherwise eligible but currently own a property can still be granted pre-approval to join Shared Equity, however they will need to have sold their property (and settled) by the time they submit a final application.
Given pre-approval expires after 3 months (with the ability to apply for an additional 3-month extension) applicants should consider what is best for them regarding timing of the sale of any existing property, application to the program and payment of deposit for the new property, prior to final application.
Applying for shared equity
Before applying, use the simple eligibility checker on the nsw.gov.au website to make sure you meet the requirements.
You can then contact a Shared Equity official lending partner, to discuss your suitability further. They can answer any questions you may have and submit an application for you. You (together with your spouse for joint applicants) will be asked for the documentation (of your income, assets, and other eligibility requirements) required to prove the information you include in your application.
New Homes and Construction Contracts
If you’re purchasing land and entering an eligible comprehensive building contract, construction work must start within 12 months of the transfer of the property and be finished within 24 months of the transfer of the property. If an extension is required, you’ll need to apply to Revenue NSW and seek approval from your lender as well.
If costs run over on your fixed price contract, you can apply to Revenue NSW and it will consider increasing the government’s equity contribution. This is only available where:
1. you and the lending partner cannot contribute further funding, and
2. the increased contribution does not exceed the maximum contribution amount, and
3. Revenue NSW is satisfied the increased amount is necessary to complete construction.
The Government’s equity contribution
The government’s maximum contribution is: -
up to 30% of the purchase price for an established home, or
up to 40% of the total property price for a new or newly built home.
The actual equity contribution provided by the government will be determined by the total property price, less the maximum loan approved by the lending partner and the applicant’s financial contribution.
The government’s equity interest at settlement will be provided as a percentage based on the amount it contributed, divided by the lower of the total property price and the property valuation.
Applicant contributions and payments
The financial contribution of the applicant must be no less than:
a minimum 2% of the total property price (which you can demonstrate to the lender has come from genuine savings), and
any excess savings required by Revenue NSW.
You won’t need to make payments on the government’s equity in the property as long as you remain eligible for Shared Equity.
Ongoing eligibility and obligations
In addition to meeting your obligations on the mortgage with your lending partner, you must also meet the ongoing eligibility criteria and obligations to continue to take part in Shared Equity.
Keep in mind that the ongoing eligibility criteria may differ from the entry criteria you had to meet when you applied for Shared Equity.
Further information, including terms and conditions, is available in the NSW Shared Equity Scheme Policy Guidelines 2022 on the Revenue NSW website.
Refer to the policy guidelines when you are ready to decide if Shared Equity is right for you.
Revenue NSW recommends you seek independent legal and financial advice as well.