Applications for Anthony Albanese's new Help To Buy scheme are scheduled to open this Friday. But brokers won't be getting the keys to the whole thing.
At Commonwealth Bank (CBA) — one of two initial lenders in the government program — brokers will not be able to write loans at the 5 December launch of the program.
CBA's General Manager Third Party Banking Baber Zaka has told Australian Broker that "mortgage brokers play an important role in supporting home ownership in Australia, particularly for first-home buyers who are navigating the process for the first time.
"The Australian government's Help To Buy scheme is in its early stages, with a limited number of placements. While not currently offered through the broker channel at CBA, we continuously review our distribution strategy and that might change in the future," Zaka continued. "Our focus remains on helping customers to achieve their home ownership objectives and on supporting brokers through investing in innovative technology and comprehensive systems that make working with CBA seamless and industry leading."
Bank Australia, the other official lender at launch, has said it will allow brokers to write loans via the scheme. Housing Australia, the government agency that is helping administer the program, said other lenders will be added over time. But it is unclear as to when.
The move by Australia's largest bank to exclude brokers from the Labor Party's latest housing scheme, has reignited questions about the future of brokers in the nation’s lending and property markets.
Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia's (MFAA) Chief Executive Officer Anja Pannek said broker involvement is crucial, given the scheme’s complexity and the vital role brokers play in guiding borrowers through it.
"Shared equity is a significant long-term commitment. Borrowers need clear, impartial guidance to understand how the government’s equity share in their home works, what it means for future borrowing capacity, and how it may impact refinancing or selling,” Pannek said. “This means access to the scheme has to be available through mortgage brokers.
"We have consistently advocated for Help To Buy to be accessible through brokers from day one, and we will continue to press for this,” she continued. “Consumers should be able to access government housing initiatives through their channel of their choice. We understand that additional lenders are expected to be added to the panel early next year. This will be critical for ensuring broader access to the Scheme. We urge all lenders, present and future to allow interested applicants to get access to the scheme through their mortgage brokers.”
The Finance Brokers Association of Australia's (FBAA) Managing Director Peter White said CBA's decision not to include brokers in the scheme was essentially undermining the program's potential before it even had the chance to deliver benefits.
“By putting itself forward as a participating lender and then excluding applications from anyone other than direct clients of CBA, it would seem Australia’s biggest bank has taken a national scheme underwritten by taxpayers and turned it into a proprietary marketing tool,” he said. “There should be a level playing field under the Help To Buy scheme that caters for all borrowers, rather than shoring up the power of major banks to exert further market dominance.”
The Help To Buy was created to help up to 40,000 existing and first-time homebuyers in Australia purchase homes over the next four years, with the government covering up to 40% of the price of new homes, or 30% of existing properties for eligible owner-occupiers. Spaces are limited, but for those who qualify, a deposit of as little as 2% is enough to get in the door.
The scheme is designed to give borrowers a foothold, or a step up, in a market squeezed by soaring property prices, cost-of-living strain and a persistent housing shortage. But it will also likely add more momentum to an already hot market — one that is increasingly relying on mortgage and finance brokers for support. During the June 2025 quarter, brokers wrote 77.6% of all new residential home loans, according to the latest data from the MFAA.
Yet despite the nation's increasing reliance on brokers, some lenders have been doubling down on their own proprietary channels as of late. In the case of CBA, the banking giant grew its loan book by $9.3 billion in the three months leading up to September 2025, quarter over quarter.
Home loans, during the quarter, made up 68% of the bank's proprietary channels, (excluding subsidiaries Bankwest and Residential Mortgage Group), suggesting CBA is strengthening its hold over direct distribution.
Broker-originated loans made up 32% of new flows during the September quarter, down from 34% during financial year 2025. When reporting its full 2025 financial year results in August, CBA said broker-originated loans are roughly 20% to 30% less profitable than its own proprietary loans.
