Lender options to double as major customer-owned bank comes aboard shared-equity program
Mortgage brokers will be able to lodge Australian Government Help to Buy Scheme applications through Teachers Mutual Bank Limited (TMBL) from Tuesday, 6 October, giving the broker channel a second lender for the shared equity program.
The first cohort is a pilot group of accredited brokers who have completed the bank's Help to Buy training. A second group will be onboarded by the end of October, and broker access will expand more broadly through 2027.
TMBL joined the Scheme as a participating lender in July. Its members can access Help to Buy for home loans taken out directly through its four retail brands: Teachers Mutual Bank, Health Professionals Bank, UniBank and Firefighters Mutual Bank.
Chief customer officer Greg Johnson (pictured) said the training-first approach reflected how different the Scheme is from standard lending.
"The Scheme's eligibility requirements, application process and ongoing conditions are different from a traditional home loan and we're focused on making sure our accredited brokers have the right training before working with their customers to submit applications for the Scheme," Johnson said.
"We want the experience for our brokers and members to be seamless and providing training and testing our systems through a phased roll out is essential in delivering a great experience for everyone."
How the Help to Buy shared equity scheme works
Help to Buy targets buyers who have saved a deposit of at least 2% but need more help to reach home ownership. The Australian Government takes an equity stake of up to 30% of the purchase price for existing homes and up to 40% for new builds, which reduces the amount the buyer has to borrow.
The Scheme opened on 5 December 2025 and has since received more than 7,200 applications.
Each year 10,000 places are available across all participating lenders. Housing Australia confirmed 10,000 new places for the 2026-27 financial year and raised the income eligibility thresholds in every state and territory.
With the Scheme reaching Tasmania in June 2026, it now operates nationwide.
A second lender for the broker channel
Teachers Mutual is the third authorised Help to Buy lender. Before it joined, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and Bank Australia were the only lenders writing loans under the Scheme, and only Bank Australia distributed through brokers.
Broker access has been a sore point since launch. The Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) noted that CBA had confirmed Help to Buy would not be offered through mortgage brokers, and urged current and future lenders to give broker clients access to the Scheme.
“We have consistently advocated for Help to Buy to be accessible through brokers from day one, and we will continue to press for this,” MFAA chief executive Anja Pannek said. “Consumers should be able to access government housing initiatives through their channel of their choice.
The panel has the potential to grow further. Housing Australia has run a request for proposal process to expand the lender panels for both Help to Buy and the 5% Deposit Scheme.
