Victorian Homebuyer Fund: Status and Obligations

The Victorian Homebuyer Fund closed to new applications on 10 September 2025. Existing participants keep their agreements and must continue meeting the fund’s obligations.

The closure ends entry to the Victorian shared-equity scheme. It doesn’t cancel the government’s share in a participant’s home.

Confirm the Fund’s Current Status

The fund is closed, rather than paused for a new application round. Victoria’s Department of Treasury and Finance records 10 September 2025 as the closure date. The State Revenue Office (SRO) fund page, updated 29 September 2026, confirms that new participants cannot join.

Victorian Homebuyer Fund (VHF) is the official name of the scheme often called the Vic Homebuyer Fund or Victorian shared-equity scheme. Older references to a government contribution of 25% describe its funding structure, not a current application offer.

Participants generally bought with a 5% deposit and a government equity contribution of up to 25%. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants had a 3.5% deposit and up to 35% government equity. The benefit was a smaller mortgage, while the government retained a share whose value changes with the property.

Separate a new enquiry from a participant review. Under the SRO’s September 2026 participant guidance, the 2026-27 gross annual income thresholds are $151,265 for single participants and $242,025 for joint or single-parent participants. The 2025-26 figures were $140,230 and $224,370 respectively.

The annual review period’s end date decides which financial-year threshold applies.

These figures govern existing participant reviews. Meeting them doesn’t reopen eligibility for a new purchase. For a participant’s file, keep the original approval and Participation Agreement separate from the current review rules.

The same SRO guidance names Bank Australia, Bendigo Bank, Indigenous Business Australia and Unity Bank as participating lenders, as at September 2026. That list concerns the fund’s existing arrangements. It doesn’t establish that any of those lenders accepts new fund applications.

Route New Buyer Questions

A buyer who hasn’t joined the fund needs a separate assessment of current home-buying assistance. The SRO’s closure announcement directs prospective buyers towards the Australian Government Help to Buy Scheme. Its official information page is the next source for that separate programme.

The announcement’s transition direction doesn’t transfer a buyer’s eligibility or approval. Nor does it transfer an existing participant’s Victorian agreement into a Commonwealth agreement. Keep each scheme’s assessment separate.

A first-home grant is cash assistance, a guarantee backs lending and shared equity gives the government an interest in a home. A grant doesn’t repay the Victorian Government’s share or release a participant from their agreement. The Victorian First Home Owner Grant guide covers that separate assessment.

For buyers comparing current shared-equity routes, the shared-equity schemes guide explains the differences. The Help to Buy guide covers the national scheme without carrying Victorian thresholds into it.

Explain Continuing Participant Duties

Existing participants must complete annual reviews and report changes while their agreements remain in place. The SRO’s ongoing obligations page, updated 29 September 2026, requires notification of changed circumstances within 10 business days.

Keep the home insured and maintain it. Pay the mortgage and property bills on time.

The SRO’s current participant guidance also requires the home to remain the participants’ principal place of residence. An absence longer than three months needs SRO approval.

Seek approval for structural changes or work needing a permit. For renovations costing $10,000 or more, the current SRO questions-and-answers page requires prior lender and SRO approval. Keep approval letters and the renovation records for a later valuation.

Use the Participant Portal for Annual Reviews

The VHF Participant Portal manages continuing reviews, rather than new funding applications. The SRO provides access by email after settlement and sends the annual review request to the primary participant. Use the official request’s “Start annual review” link.

The SRO’s annual review instructions, updated 29 September 2026, explain the full submission process. The primary participant uploads documents for everyone on the agreement. Other participants then verify the return through their own access.

The review is officially submitted only after all secondary participants verify it.

Prepare the requested income evidence, building insurance certificate and latest home loan statement. The instructions also request an electricity or gas bill.

Supply the information within 10 business days of the SRO’s request. A later reminder doesn’t replace that deadline.

If you cannot access the portal, call the Homebuyer Fund team on (03) 7020 1549. The official login-help instructions say the team resets the password and sends a new login link. Use that contact for participant circumstances needing a decision, and contact the lender for questions about the home loan.

Handle Refinance, Repayment or Sale

A participant’s refinance or exit needs both the lending assessment and the fund’s repayment or consent process. Closure doesn’t make the government contribution a fixed loan balance. The SRO’s current guidance uses a Valuer-General Victoria valuation when a participant buys back equity.

As at September 2026, the SRO’s refinance and exit guidance sets these requirements.

Proposed action	Fund requirement	Record for the broker’s file
Refinance while remaining in the fund	Participating-lender approval; increased borrowing is restricted and needs Homebuyer Fund team approval	Incoming lender, permitted loan purpose and approvals. Moving to another participating lender attracts a $330 fee
Voluntary equity repayment	At least $10,000 and a reduction of at least five percentage points in the government’s share	SRO valuation, payment instructions and resulting equity percentage
Full exit during the first two years	Prior fund approval	Original settlement date and written consent
Property sale	Notify the SRO and lender at least 45 days before sale; use an independent sale process	Sale timing, selling costs and repayment arrangements. Selling within two years also needs prior written SRO consent

The ongoing obligations page also requires approval before reducing the government’s share below five percentage points during the first two years. Its mandatory repayment rules include income above the applicable threshold at two consecutive reviews and a windfall of $10,000 or more.

Loan-funded payments depend on lender approval and the stated minimum reduction. Take an actual trigger to the fund team before setting a repayment schedule.

Before modelling a refinance, collect the current mortgage payout figure and the SRO’s equity repayment figure. Record the valuation date and any approved renovation adjustment. A lender’s valuation for its new loan and the fund’s valuation for equity repayment have different purposes.

For a sale, budget for selling costs before estimating the participant’s remaining cash. The published payment order is the lender, the fund, other legal or equitable interests and then the participant. A broker’s estimate must account for both mortgages.

Keep the Participation Agreement with the settlement date, latest annual review and written approvals. Add the payment or sale records as the transaction progresses. Model the proposed loan against those amounts, then obtain the lender’s approval and the fund’s required consent before committing to the transaction.