Since the start of 2020, 52,888 Australians have purchased a home or reserved a place under the federal government’s Home Guarantee Scheme.

The scheme, which includes the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme and New Home Guarantee for first home buyers as well as the Family Home Guarantee for single parents, has seen the number of first home owners reach their highest levels in almost 15 years, according to Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Housing Michael Sukkar.

“The government’s Home Guarantee Scheme helps overcome the challenges of saving for a deposit, and has played a huge part in opening up the housing market to even more Australians,” Mr Sukkar said.

Of the 30,000 additional places made available under the scheme from 1 July this year, 12,251 had already been taken up, according to Mr Sukkar.

“The number of new home owners is particularly encouraging among single parents, given the challenges of saving a deposit while on a single income and raising children,” he said.

The Family Home Guarantee allows single parents to purchase a home with a deposit of as low as 2 per cent. 1,236 places in the Family Home Guarantee have already been taken up since it was introduced on 1 July.

Targeted at first home buyers, the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme and New Home Guarantee allow individuals to purchase a home with a deposit of as little as 5 per cent.

Since 1 July, 2,463 places with an intended purchase location in NSW have been secured under the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, along with 2,118 in Queensland and 1,938 in Victoria.

Moreover, 390 places for the Family Home Guarantee were secured in Queensland, 246 in NSW and 180 in Victoria. For New Home Guarantee, 684 places were secured in Victoria, 633 in NSW and 586 in Queensland.