Shared-equity scheme in firing line weeks after brokers gained a second lender
The federal opposition will abolish the Help to Buy shared equity scheme if it wins government, placing the program for first home buyers on a $4.7 billion list of housing cuts unveiled in Canberra on Monday 26 October 2026.
Opposition leader Angus Taylor and Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson released $31.3 billion in proposed savings over the four years from 2028-29 to 2031-32. The Coalition says the package would fund indexing income tax brackets and still leave the federal budget $22 billion better off.
The opposition has also promised to find $9.4 billion by cutting climate programs; $7.3 billion by cutting industry incentives including the National Reconstruction Fund; and $7.9 billion “in budget improvements from breaking the illicit tobacco business model”.
Housing accounts for $4.7 billion, combining Help to Buy, the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF), the New Homes Bonus and Build to Rent incentives. The Coalition has not published a separate figure for Help to Buy.
“All Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers have to offer is more taxes and more spending. This just means higher inflation, higher interest rates, more debt, and more deficits,” Taylor said.
What scrapping Help to Buy would mean for mortgage brokers
Under Help to Buy, the Australian Government takes an equity stake of up to 30% in an existing home or 40% in a new build, so buyers with a 2% deposit borrow less. Since opening on 5 December 2025 it has received more than 7,200 applications, and Housing Australia confirmed 10,000 new places for the 2026-27 financial year.
The pledge comes weeks after the scheme widened for brokers. Teachers Mutual Bank began taking broker applications for Help to Buy on 6 October 2026, becoming the second lender available through the broker channel after Bank Australia. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) does not offer the scheme through brokers.
The Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) has lobbied for broker access since launch, and Housing Australia has run a tender to widen the lender panels for Help to Buy and the 5% Deposit Scheme, which has also drawn critics. The Coalition has not said how existing participants or applications in progress would be treated.
How did the Coalition's record shape the budget deficit?
The Coalition's attack on Labor's spending sits against its own record. Treasury's Final Budget Outcome for 2021-22 shows the Scott Morrison Coalition government's last full year ended with an underlying cash deficit of $32 billion and gross debt of $895.3 billion, or 39.0% of gross domestic product (GDP). That followed a record $134.2 billion deficit in 2020-21 as pandemic support flowed.
Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported on Monday that the Coalition has opposed several government savings measures, including changes to the private health insurance rebate for over-65s, and that its costings leave out a pledge to cut fuel excise when oil prices spike. Because the HAFF is self-sustaining, scrapping it would improve the headline cash balance but not the underlying deficit, AAP noted.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has accused the opposition of failing to explain $110 billion in unfunded commitments. The Coalition counters that spending under Labor is at its highest level outside the pandemic in 40 years.
