Mortgage brokers in Teachers Mutual Bank's first trained cohort will be able to lodge applications under the Australian Government Help to Buy Scheme from Tuesday 6 October. It's the first time the shared equity program has been open through the lender's broker channel.
The mutual bank has $14.5 billion in total assets and more than 280,000 members. It became a participating lender on 27 July, making it the scheme's third lender after Commonwealth Bank and Bank Australia. At the time, Bank Australia was the only one offering the scheme through brokers. Until now, Teachers Mutual Bank has offered it only to borrowers taking out loans directly through four of its retail brands: Teachers Mutual Bank, Health Professionals Bank, UniBank, and Firefighters Mutual Bank.
The first phase uses a pilot group of brokers. A second trained cohort is due to be onboarded by the end of October, and broader broker access will follow during 2027.
Teachers Mutual Bank chief customer officer Greg Johnson (pictured) said a staged approach was needed to give brokers and members a seamless experience. He added that "providing training and testing our systems through a phased roll out is essential."
Johnson said the scheme's "eligibility requirements, application process and ongoing conditions are different from a traditional home loan". He said the bank wanted its accredited brokers properly trained before they started submitting applications for clients.
For brokers, that means Help to Buy deals will need different handling from a standard purchase, from eligibility checks through to the ongoing conditions borrowers must meet.
Help to Buy targets buyers who have saved a deposit of at least 2% but can't afford to buy without further support. Under the shared equity arrangement, the government contributes up to 30% of the purchase price for an existing home, or up to 40% for a newly built one.
Places are capped at 10,000 a year across all participating lenders, and both first-home buyers and Australians returning to homeownership can apply if eligible. Demand has been strong. An independent capability assessment of Housing Australia found the scheme received 7,261 active applications in its first seven months to 30 June, with 3,636 purchases settled. Extrapolated over a full year, that would be 12,447 applications, above the 10,000 places available.
Get the hottest and freshest property and mortgage news delivered right into your inbox. Subscribe now to our FREE daily newsletter.
