The policy direction is clear—are you ready to move with it?
With the election behind us, new housing policies are set to shape the next five years of Australia’s property and lending landscape.
Whether you’re a mortgage broker, credit assessor, lender, or legal professional working in lending, one thing is certain: these changes will directly influence your day-to-day decisions—from how home loans are assessed and structured, to how loan documentation is drafted and property settlements processed.
This is not about politics. It’s about preparedness and performance in a fast-evolving legal lending environment.
Let’s break down what’s on the table—what’s changing, and what it means for the lending industry, the property market, and your clients.
Policy By Policy – Lending, Legal & Market Implications
Each key housing policy is unpacked below with:
- A Lender Perspective – how it affects loan products, approvals, and risk
- A Legal Insight – what changes in compliance, contract terms, or transaction complexity
- A sharp Implication – what action needs to be taken or anticipated
Download our 2025 Election Outcome Cheat Sheet – Download Here
1. 100,000 Homes for First Home Buyers
A renewed focus on first-home buyers will drive up demand for low-deposit loans and entry-level finance. For lenders, this means preparing for a higher volume of loan applications, many from new borrowers.
Legal professionals will manage a sharp increase in contract drafting, mortgage agreements, and conveyancing support—often with clients who need more guidance. Speed, accuracy, and scalable loan processing systems will be key.
2. First Home Guarantee Scheme Expansion
Removing Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) and expanding access will invite more participants into the residential lending market. But without LMI, risk shifts back to the lender. That demands stricter credit policy, tighter checks, and well-defined loan terms.
On the legal side, your loan documentation must be airtight, with clauses that protect the lender’s interests. Now’s the time to re-evaluate your legal lending templates.
3. Help to Buy: Shared Equity, Shared Responsibility
With shared ownership loans, the buyer and government both hold equity. That complicates standard home loan structuring and servicing models.
From a legal perspective, these transactions require detailed co-ownership agreements, clear exit clauses, and protection for both parties over time. If you’re in property law, this is where proactive, precise structuring matters most.
4. Build-to-Rent Incentives
Incentives to scale up rental housing developments will attract institutional property investors and trigger demand for commercial finance. Lenders involved in development loans must assess longer timelines, affordability obligations, and funding complexity.
Legal teams will need to support with multi-party loan agreements, tax-aligned structures, and compliance documentation tied to affordable housing benchmarks.
5. Apprentice Incentives & Construction Workforce
A stronger construction sector means faster housing delivery and fewer delays on development projects. Lenders benefit from lower risk on construction loans.
For legal teams, it means working at pace—drafting and settling finance documents against tighter build timelines. It’s time to streamline legal support for project finance, standardise processes, and reduce bottlenecks in property development lending.
6. Temporary Foreign Investment Ban
A two-year restriction on foreign residential property purchases shifts the spotlight onto local borrowers. While this could cool parts of the market, it brings more domestic lending opportunities.
But it also places pressure on legal teams to verify borrower eligibility, run foreign interest checks, and confirm compliance with FIRB rules. Tighter due diligence protocols are essential.
7. Housing Australia Future Fund
This long-term investment in affordable and social housing will lead to complex, large-scale public-private funding partnerships. These transactions go beyond simple home loans—they require structured funding, legal risk mitigation, and detailed oversight.
Lenders will need strong legal partners to manage the volume and complexity of these deals with confidence.
8. 1.2 Million Homes Construction Target
A national target of 1.2 million new homes will place enormous demand on residential mortgage lending, construction finance, and legal transaction management. Legal teams will be flat out managing subdivisions, land titling, and settlements.
This is where scalable systems and automation make a real difference. Precision is not negotiable—especially at scale.
Key Implications for Lenders
GML’s analysis highlights a series of legal and operational challenges lenders should prepare for:
- Shared equity structures under the Help to Buy scheme requiring co-ownership agreements and exit clauses.
- Low-deposit lending through First Home Guarantee expansion, increasing risk exposure without LMI coverage.
- Multi-party transactions in Build-to-Rent and social housing deals, with layered contracts and government compliance benchmarks.
- Pressure on turnaround times due to increased construction pipeline and first-home buyer incentives.
- Ensuring broker networks are fully informed and aligned with current lender products, policy changes, and approval timeframes to minimise disruption and maximise conversion.
Where Brokers Fit In
While the legal burden sits firmly with lenders and legal teams, brokers play a key role in navigating these changes from a client advisory perspective.
Brokers don’t handle the legal documentation, but they absolutely shape the front end of the borrower journey.
Brokers play a critical role in today’s lending environment—connecting borrowers with the right lenders based on their unique needs and circumstances. With policy shifts now shaping deal structures, approval timeframes, and lender appetite, brokers must remain agile and informed.
As housing policy changes take effect, brokers can play a vital role in helping clients ask the right questions and avoid unnecessary delays. Green urges brokers to stay across a few key areas when advising borrowers:
Broker Awareness Checklist (Post-Election) – Navigating Policy Shifts with Clients
- Is the borrower eligible for any new schemes or incentives?
– e.g. Help to Buy, First Home Guarantee, shared equity programs.
- Does the borrower understand the ownership structure of their loan product?
– Especially relevant for shared equity or co-ownership schemes.
- What type of property is being purchased?
– Certain incentives or restrictions may apply based on location, value, or intended use.
- Is the chosen lender participating in relevant schemes?
– Not all lenders offer the same programs or structure deals the same way.
- Have you accounted for changes in lender appetite or approval timeframes?
– Policy shifts may influence how quickly deals are assessed and underwritten.
- Is foreign residency or ownership a factor?
– Brokers should flag this early due to the foreign buyer restrictions now in place.
- Are there complex deal types involved, like Build-to-Rent or development loans?
– These often require more legal structuring and may not be suitable for all borrowers.
Want This All in One Place?
Download our 2025 Election Outcome Cheat Sheet—a one-page in brief Guide for brokers, lenders, and legal professionals.
It cuts through the noise and delivers insights that directly affect your loan pipelines, risk exposure, and legal workflow.
Clear. Practical. Built for professionals in housing finance and legal lending. Download Here