Nearly 1,500 properties bought using Australia’s first home buyers' 5% deposit scheme converted into investments

New data shows the federal government scheme has been used by high-income borrowers, including one couple earning an annual $674,000 Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The government’s 5% deposit scheme for first home buyers has enabled the purchase of nearly 1,500 properties that were turned into investments, new data shows. The scheme is also helping hundreds of Australians earning more than $300,000 a year, after Labor stopped excluding high-income borrowers. First-time buyers can borrow 95% of a property’s value and have the government guarantee the loan, waiving costly lenders’ mortgage insurance, under the scheme. Housing Australia, which runs the program, provided the data in response to a Senate estimates question on notice in June. From its launch in 2020 until May 2026, the scheme released 1,485 homes because they were converted into investment properties, the agency said. The conversions were a small proportion of the 208,000 total guarantees issued over that time. Barbara Pocock, the Greens’ housing spokesperson, said the scheme was supposed to help first home buyers on lower incomes