People’s Choice Credit Union will help first home buyers into their own homes sooner after being appointed to the Panel of Lenders for the Australian Government’s First Home Loan Deposit Scheme.
The scheme will provide up to 10,000 first home loan guarantees each financial year to allow eligible first home buyers on low and middle incomes to purchase a home with a deposit of as little as 5%. These borrowers will benefit from reduced fees and lower priced loans than they would otherwise qualify for with a low deposit.
Eligible borrowers can also use the guarantee in conjunction with other government programs like the First Home Super Saver Scheme, state and territory First Home Owner Grants and stamp duty concessions.
All lenders have committed not to charge eligible customers higher interest rates than equivalent customers outside of the scheme.
People’s Choice Chief Executive Officer Steve Laidlaw said the credit union’s selection for the scheme reflected its strong reputation as a lender of choice for first home buyers.
“Despite low interest rates, we know it can still be very daunting for Australians to enter the housing market,” Mr Laidlaw said.
“As a credit union, we treat our support of first home buyers as a partnership rather than a transaction. We have helped hundreds of thousands of members achieve their goal of home ownership by going beyond simply offering a loan,” he said.
“We are honoured to participate in the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme and look forward to working with the Australian Government to help more people to buy their first home.”
People’s Choice is consistently recognised as one of the country’s most trusted financial institutions, with a strong commitment to first home buyers.
Canstar has named People’s Choice as the best customer-owned institution for first home buyers in Victoria (last three years), South Australia (last six times awarded) and the Northern Territory (last five times awarded).
Roy Morgan has named People’s Choice as the country’s best credit union in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
The First Home Loan Deposit Scheme will commence for non major lenders on 1 February 2020 and will be administered by the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation.
More information is at nhfic.gov.au/what-we-do/fhlds/
