Kristin Brookfield: HIA Chief Executive – Industry Policy Financial challenges can prevent households from buying a home, but a range of government initiatives can help to pave the way to ownership. HIA has a proud history of supporting home builders and home building as a way to help all Australians have access to a home. Traditionally people see home ownership as their housing goal, but with the challenges of increasing house prices, many Australians find the path to ownership is not smooth. HIA continues to work with governments to create mechanisms that can assist households, in particular those with low and moderate incomes, to enter the housing market by purchasing their first home. Once a household owns a first home, a future choice to move into another home becomes much less challenging. For many households, achieving home ownership is first and foremost a financial challenge, balancing low or moderate incomes against deposit gaps, house prices and monthly mortgage repayments. To assist first home buyers, and in some cases other home buyers, many state governments have established financial assistance schemes for households that meet specific eligibility criteria based supporting on their income and current savings. These schemesgo beyond just offering the first home owners one-offassistance in the form of a grant. Instead the focus is on long-term support that can be offered to a home household where they can show capacity to servicea loan for a home over the long term.HIA has completed a stocktake of theseschemes. The findings may be of interest to ownership members and offer new ways to assist customers in taking the step from rental accommodation into home ownership. Incentives for home buyers Story: Kristin Brookfield Several states run schemes to assist first home buyers through a specialised home loan product. Some also have schemes available for any home buyer that meets certain criteria. The schemes generally offer access to a housing loan that has more favourable lending criteria such as a lower deposit (generally two per cent), reduced insurance costs and reduced fees. 44 HOUSING SEPTEMBER 2018