Key changes to eligibility criteria include extending access to permanent residents (previously limited to citizens), allowing any two applicants (including friends and siblings) to make joint applications, and expanding the Family Home Guarantee to include single legal guardians such as aunts, uncles, and grandparents. The scheme also now includes those who haven't owned property in Australia for the past ten years, not just first-time buyers.

The scheme enables first-time buyers to purchase with deposits as low as 5 per cent, while the Family Home Guarantee supports single parents and guardians with deposits as low as 2 per cent. Property price caps have been updated to reflect market conditions, ranging from $900,000 in New South Wales capital city areas to $400,000 in Christmas Island and Cocos Islands.

For regional buyers, the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee includes new exemptions to the 12-month residency requirement for certain workers required to relocate by their employers, expanding beyond the previous Defence Force-only exemption.

As of early 2024, the expanded scheme has helped more than 93,000 people into home ownership since the government's election, with over 300 joint applications approved between siblings, friends, and parents and children in the first six months since the July 2023 expansion.

[1] https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/julie-collins-2022/media-releases/albanese-governments-expanded-home-guarantee-scheme

[2] https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/julie-collins-2022/media-releases/expansion-home-guarantee-scheme

[3] https://www.housingaustralia.gov.au/support-buy-home/eligibility-tool