What is regional first home buyer guarantee?
The Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee was a Home Guarantee Scheme sub-stream reserved for first home buyers in regional Australia; it closed to new applicants on 1 October 2025, and regional buyers now apply through the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme's General Stream or Single Parent Stream instead.
The Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee (RFHBG) was a dedicated stream of the federal Home Guarantee Scheme that reserved places for first home buyers purchasing in regional Australia, guaranteeing the lender against the LVR gap above 80% so qualifying buyers could get in with a 5% deposit and no LMI.
It closed to new applicants on 1 October 2025 when the scheme was restructured into the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme. Regional buyers are not shut out, they simply apply through the scheme's General Stream (5% deposit, first home buyers) or Single Parent Stream (2% deposit, single parents and legal guardians), on the same terms as metro buyers.
Neither remaining stream carries the old regional-specific income caps or the RFHBG's 10,000-place annual limit; those were removed for the whole scheme in the same 1 October 2025 change. Apply through a participating lender, not directly to Housing Australia.
Also called
RFHBG · regional first home buyer guarantee · regional home guarantee
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General information only, not personal financial advice. Verified against https://ratesniffers.com.au/glossary on 2026-09-10.