Kirby and Andrew had been renting for a number of years. Tired of dealing with real estate agents, they were keen to move into their own home.

“All our friends have watched us try and buy our own place [but] we’d never been able to get across the line with a mortgage,” Kirby said. “We were almost at the point where we were going to give up hope that we would ever be able to get there, but we finally did with the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme (New Homes).”

The Queensland-based couple found out about the Australian Government’s FHLDS (New Homes) through their mortgage broker. The FHLDS (New Homes) supports eligible first home buyers to build or purchase a new home with a deposit of as little as 5 per cent, without the need for lenders mortgage insurance.

“When we applied for the Scheme, it was right at the start of the FHLDS (New Homes) launch where everyone was chasing the grants, which meant all the banks were being inundated with applications,” Kirby said. “However, our broker and Queensland Country Bank ensured that the whole process was extremely easy – there wasn’t much we had to do aside from fill out the required application form.

Kirby and Andrew’s new home build is now underway and they encourage other first home buyers looking to access the FHLDS (New Homes) to ‘do their homework’ and get in quick.

“It’s important to look at which banks actually offer the FHLDS (New Homes) as not everyone does,” Kirby said. “Also, do your homework. We had applied for a home loan 18 months prior, but were knocked back due to not doing our homework and having the right people around us (like a good broker). This time around, it was a lot easier.

"Without our broker we would have been lost. He worked very hard for us."

For now, the couple are excited watching their build progress and look forward to living in their very own brand-new home.

“Something I really look forward to is spending time in my favourite room of the house, which will be the kitchen,” Kirby said. “Our kitchen is very much the heart of our home and it’s been designed well for us to entertain and cook for years to come.”

"We’ve just begun our build which is for a low-set medium sized house (of 205sqm) with the land size we were after."

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Under the FHLDS (New Homes), first home buyers can build or purchase a new home, including:

• newly-constructed dwellings
• off-the-plan dwellings
• house and land packages
• land and a separate contract to build a new home.

Read more about the types of properties that are eligible for FHLDS (New Homes) and the specific dates and requirements that apply.