Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, single parent pathway
Home loans for single parents in Melbourne
Since October 2025 the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme has let eligible single parents and single legal guardians buy with as little as a 2 percent deposit and no lenders mortgage insurance, with no income cap and no cap on places. You do not have to be a first home buyer. Plenty of people who qualify have no idea it exists, or were told about the old version with its waitlists and income limits.
The rules that actually apply now
What changed, and why it matters for you
Under the old Family Home Guarantee there were a few thousand places a year, an income limit of $125,000, and a scramble every July. From 1 October 2025 that is gone. The single parent pathway now sits inside the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme with no income cap, no place limit, and 2 percent as the minimum deposit for single parents and legal guardians with at least one dependent child.
You need to be an Australian citizen or permanent resident, at least 18, and not currently own property anywhere. Previous ownership is fine, which matters after a separation where the family home has been sold. The property has to be one you will live in, and it has to sit under the price cap, which in Melbourne and Geelong is $950,000 and in the rest of Victoria is $650,000.
The scheme is only available through participating lenders, and they still assess whether you can afford the loan. Child support, Family Tax Benefit and part-time income are all treated differently by different lenders, so on the same facts one lender says yes and another says no. That is the part we do.
- We check your eligibility against the current scheme rules, not last year's
- Child support and family payments counted where a lender's policy allows it
- Stamp duty exemption and the First Home Owner Grant stacked on top where you qualify
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Twenty years inside Australian banking, including senior roles at ANZ, before starting Exceed Finance. Plain answers, no pressure.
The numbers that matter
At a glance
General information only. Lender policies change and your full situation has to be assessed before any lender will confirm what they will do. Our service is free to you on residential home loans and everything is disclosed in writing.
Where we can usually help most
The situations that come up again and again
After a separation
You owned before, the house has been sold, and you are starting again. Previous ownership does not disqualify you; owning something now does. We help with the timing.
Part-time work plus child support
Lenders treat child support very differently, from counting it in full with a court order to ignoring it altogether. The right lender can be the whole difference.
Working full-time, small savings
Two percent of a $600,000 home is $12,000. If you have that plus costs, or family help with the deposit, you may be much closer than you think.
Buying a new build
New homes can stack the First Home Owner Grant of $10,000 on top of the scheme, and Victoria's stamp duty exemption applies under $600,000 for first home buyers.
Where our clients are
Across Melbourne, and Australia-wide
We are based in Dandenong South and a lot of our clients are across Melbourne's south-east, but everything can be done by phone, video and secure upload, so we help clients anywhere in Australia.
Other situations we write about:
Simple from start to finish
How it works
Free chat
We work out your goals and what you can actually borrow.
We compare
We search 35+ lenders and shortlist the ones whose policy fits your situation.
We apply
We package and submit your application, and chase it for you.
Settlement
We see it through to approval, and stay in touch afterwards.
Common questions
Questions we get asked a lot
Do I have to be a first home buyer to use the single parent pathway?
No. You must not currently own property in Australia, but having owned before does not rule you out. This is the pathway designed for people rebuilding after a relationship ends. If you are a first home buyer as well, you may also be eligible for Victoria's stamp duty exemption or concession and, on a new home, the $10,000 First Home Owner Grant.
Is there still an income limit?
Not since 1 October 2025. The old $125,000 cap and the annual place limit were removed when the single parent pathway moved into the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme. Lenders still need to be satisfied you can afford the repayments, which is a different test.
Will the lender count my child support and Centrelink payments?
Some will, some will not, and the ones that do have conditions. Child support under a court order or a registered agreement with a track record of payments is accepted by a number of lenders, sometimes in full. Family Tax Benefit is accepted by some lenders for younger children and not for older ones. Private, informal arrangements are the hardest. We match your income mix to a lender whose policy fits it.
What counts as a dependent child?
A natural or adopted child who is dependent on you within the meaning of the social security rules, or a child you are the legal guardian of. The child's age matters to some lenders when they are assessing family payments, so it is worth going through the detail with us.
What is the price cap in Melbourne?
For Victoria the cap is $950,000 in Melbourne and Geelong and $650,000 elsewhere in the state. The cap is on the purchase price, and the caps were lifted substantially in October 2025, so if you checked a year ago it is worth checking again.
Do you charge for this?
Our service is free to you on residential home loans. Everything is disclosed in writing before you commit to anything, and as a licensed credit representative we operate under Best Interests Duty, which legally requires us to act in your interests rather than our own.
Will talking to you affect my credit score?
No. A conversation with us, and the work we do comparing lenders, involves no credit check. A credit enquiry only happens when an actual application is lodged with a lender, and we do not lodge anything until you have chosen to go ahead. The point of doing the work first is so that the application that does go in is the right one.
Find out if you qualify, in one conversation
Tell us your situation, your income and what you have saved. We will tell you plainly whether the scheme is open to you and what you could buy. Free, no obligation.