Refresh of the Housing Australia Major Bank Lender Panel for the Home Guarantee Scheme

Outside of apartment block glass windows
THIS RFP HAS NOW CLOSED

THIS INFORMATION IS INTENDED FOR INSTITUTIONS (BANKS, LENDERS), NOT CONSUMERS.

If you are a home buyer seeking information the Scheme, please visit our schemes page.

Overview

Housing Australia is commencing a Request for Proposal (RFP) process to refresh its major bank lender panel, and intends to add one or two new major bank lenders to the major bank lender panel from 30 September 2022.  

New major bank lenders will be required to offer the First Home Guarantee (FHBG), previously the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme (FHG), the Family Home Guarantee and any other Guarantees that may be added in the future by the Government to the Home Guarantee Scheme (HGS or Scheme).

 

About the Scheme

Housing Australia is responsible for implementing the Government’s Home Guarantee Scheme which includes: 

  1. The First Home Guarantee, which aims to assist eligible first home buyers enter the housing market sooner. 
  2. The Family Home Guarantee, which aims to assist eligible single parents with at least one dependent child in purchasing a family home, regardless of whether that single parent is a first home buyer or a previous homeowner.  

Since commencement in 2020, the Scheme has helped more than 61,000 Australians purchase or build a home, with a significant proportion being women and key workers. 

The administration of the Scheme is undertaken by panel lenders, comprising major bank lenders and non-major lenders. Currently there are 2 major bank lenders and 30 non-major lenders.

 

Context for this RFP

Housing Australia completed a review in 2021 of Scheme performance and opportunities, conducted by an independent adviser. The review concluded the Scheme was being operated effectively, that the existing lender panel had successfully achieved the Scheme’s objectives and recommended no change to the existing lender panel.  

The review recommended expanding the lender panel to continue achieving the Scheme’s policy objectives and strategic opportunities. Input from the review was used to guide the design and format of the RFP process. 

Recent amendments to Housing Australia’s Investment Mandate removed the limit of 2 major bank lenders on the lender panel, allowing the major bank lender RFP process to commence. A competitive procurement process to expand the non-major lender panel occurred earlier this year with 5 additional non-major lenders added to the lender panel from 1 July 2022. 

Housing Australia is committed to operating the Scheme in a responsible and commercial manner, consistent with the principles and requirements set out in its Investment Mandate, as well as its purpose to improve housing outcomes for Australians. 

Housing Australia has engaged external advisers to support the RFP process to ensure fairness. These advisers include Gilbert + Tobin and the Australian Government Solicitor. 

Eligibility

As defined in the Housing Australia Investment Mandate, eligible lenders must be ‘major bank lenders’ which means: 

(a) The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ACN 005 357 522) and its related bodies corporate; and 

(b) Westpac Banking Corporation (ACN 007 457 141) and its related bodies corporate. 

Please note, this RFP does not impact Housing Australia’s current panel of major bank and non-major bank participating lenders. Current panel lenders will continue to offer the Scheme are not eligible or required to participate in this RFP process. 

We acknowledge that becoming a panel lender requires considerable time, investment, and ongoing resourcing and commitments from both lenders and Housing Australia. 

We encourage the major bank lenders who are interested, to review the evaluation criteria and preferred lender attributes, and request the RFP documentation for more detailed information on these criteria and attributes. The RFP document will be distributed to an authorised representative from each eligible lender. 

Evaluation criteria

Please note the below information is a summary. More information is available in the RFP documentation, available upon request (see Key Dates and Next Steps section). 

Applicants must address the evaluation criteria, as set out in the Response Forms. Submissions will be evaluated by the Evaluation Committee. 

The evaluation criteria, which are detailed further in the RFP document, are: 

  1. Customer care, including hardship
  2. Product competitiveness, including fees and interest rates
  3. Operational process including risk management 
  4. Reputation
  5. Ability to promote market competition in lending and related markets
  6. Capacity and readiness to implement and promote the Scheme on and from 30 September 2022
  7. Potential to minimise calls on the Guarantee
  8. Legal and contractual compliance. 

Preferred lender attributes

Please note the below information is a summary. More information is available in the RFP documentation, available upon request. 

Together with the evaluation criteria, Housing Australia has also included preferred lender attributes, which relate to the Scheme’s policy objectives and strategic opportunities. 

These preferred lender attributes will be considered by the Evaluation Committee when assessing proposals. While under the RFP it is not mandatory to have all the preferred lender attributes, these attributes will be considered favourably.  

The preferred lender attributes relate to a lender’s: 

  • customer base (the geographical location and key workers occupations) 
  • commitment and capacity to deliver both FHBG and FHG 
  • capacity to evolve to accommodate any future schemes that may be introduced by the Government
  • ability to offer competitive high loan to value ratio (LVR) loan products. 

For example, it is our strong preference for all lenders to have the capacity and commitment to offer all existing Guarantees under the Scheme and any future Guarantees that may be added by the Government to the Scheme under Part 5A of the Investment Mandate. This is consistent with our current position with existing panel lenders. 

Summary points: 

  • The Evaluation Committee will consider both evaluation criteria and preferred lender attributes. 
  • Potential applicants must address the evaluation criteria as part of the RFP
  • While it is not mandatory to have all the preferred lender attributes, they will be considered favourably by the Evaluation Committee when assessing proposals 
  • Further information on evaluation criteria and preferred lender attributes is available in the RFP documentation.

Key dates

Monday 25 July 2022RFP documentation is available to eligible lenders on request
Monday 1 August 2022, 3.00pm AEDTDeadline for registration to attend industry briefing
Tuesday 2 August 2022, 2.00pm AEDTIndustry briefing (registration and RSVP essential)
Wednesday 10 August 2022, 5.00pm AEDTDeadline for submission of questions from eligible lenders
Friday 12 August 2022, 11.59pm AEDTDeadline for lender response to RFP
From 12 August 2022 onwardsThe Evaluation Committee will review and consider RFP submissions
September 2022Housing Australia will make offers to successful eligible lenders
30 September 2022New major bank lenders commence on the panel

 

We invite all eligible lenders to review the RFP documentation and submit their response by 11.59pm AEDT Friday 12 August 2022. 

To register to attend the industry briefing, lenders should provide full contact details for all attendees (name, title, phone, email) to Housing Australia by 3:00pm AEDT on Monday 1 August 2022. Lender representatives should be authorised representatives of the lender, and should be from a directly relevant business unit to attend the industry briefing (e.g. residential mortgage lending, home loan finance, consumer lending procurement). 

Attendance at the industry briefing is optional, however interested eligible lenders are encouraged to attend. 

An abridged summary of relevant information, clarifications and Q&A will be made available, after the industry briefing and prior to the deadline for submission of RFP responses, to eligible lenders representatives who register their interest with Housing Australia. 

Next steps

RFP documentation is available on request to eligible lenders who register their interest with Housing Australia. To request the RFP documentation, email hgspanel@housingaustralia.gov.au with full contact details (email and telephone details of the contact officer/s). Registered contact officers will receive notifications from Housing Australia during the RFP process. 

A contact officer should be an authorised representative of the lender, working in a business unit directly relevant to the RFP process (e.g. residential mortgage lending, home loan finance, consumer lending procurement). 

Please refer to the eligibility requirements, listed in the ‘Eligibility’ tab above, prior to requesting a copy of the RFP documentation. 

On receipt of a registration of interest from a potential Respondent, Housing Australia will email the RFP document to the nominated contact officer/s. Housing Australia aims to provide RFP documentation to registered parties within one business day of receiving their registration of interest via email.  

All written liaison with Housing Australia should be completed via email at hgspanel@housingaustralia.gov.au

RFP responses must be submitted via email before the closing time (Friday 12 August 2022, 11:59pm AEDT). 

Summary points: 

  • Becoming a panel lender requires considerable time, investment, and ongoing resourcing and commitments
  • Housing Australia’s RFP email account should be used for all written correspondence. Eligible lenders will need to contact Housing Australia at hgspanel@housingaustralia.gov.au to register their interest, request RFP documentation, RSVP for the industry briefing, receive updates, and submit their response to the RFP.

We invite interested eligible lenders to: 

  1. Request and review the RFP documentation, via an authorised representative 
  2. Register for the industry briefing by 3:00pm AEDT, Monday 1 August 2022
  3. If interested, submit their response to the RFP by 11:59pm AEDT, Friday 12 August 2022. 

Privacy policy and confidential information

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View Housing Australia policies and registers and website T&Cs.

Email us

Request documentation and register interest.

hgspanel@housingaustralia.gov.au