CBA has confirmed it is withholding Help to Buy from brokers at launch, prompting industry players to call for fair, broker-accessible distribution.
The mortgage broking industry is urging lenders to open the federal government’s new Help to Buy scheme to brokers, after the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) confirmed the product will initially be available only through its proprietary channels.
Help to Buy, the government’s shared-equity initiative launching on Friday (5 December), will be offered at first by just two lenders: CBA and Bank Australia. While Bank Australia has confirmed its loans will be available through the broker channel, CBA has taken a different approach.
When sister title Broker Daily asked whether brokers would be able to write Help to Buy loans, CBA said the scheme would not be offered through the broker channel at launch.
Instead, eligible customers will need to apply directly through a CommBank home lending specialist. However, the bank noted this position may evolve.
Baber Zaka, general manager, third-party banking at CBA, said: “Mortgage brokers play an important role in supporting home ownership in Australia, particularly for first home buyers who are navigating the process for the first time. The Australian Government Help to Buy scheme is in its early stages, with a limited number of placements. While not currently offered through the broker channel at CBA, we continuously review our distribution strategy and that might change in the future.”
He added: “Brokers have been instrumental in delivering the expanded Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme and CommBank is proud to be a leading lender in that program, working side-by-side with brokers to support more Australians secure their first home. Our focus remains on helping customers to achieve their home ownership objectives and on supporting brokers through investing in innovative technology and comprehensive systems that make working with CBA seamless and industry leading.
“We’re continuing to invest in platforms like CommBroker and integrations such as PEXA Settlement, giving brokers near real-time updates on settlements and soon the ability to self-serve escalations. These innovations are designed to save time and help deliver exceptional outcomes for customers,” he said.
The Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) has raised concerns that the limited distribution model will impede fair access for first home buyers.
CEO Anja Pannek said: “Shared equity is a significant long-term commitment. Borrowers need clear, impartial guidance to understand how the Government’s equity share in their home works, what it means for future borrowing capacity, and how it may impact refinancing or selling.”
She stressed the importance of broker involvement, stating: “This means access to the scheme has to be available through mortgage brokers.”
Pannek further added: “We have consistently advocated for Help to Buy to be accessible through brokers from day one, and we will continue to press for this. Consumers should be able to access government housing initiatives through their channel of their choice.”
The MFAA CEO also noted that more lenders are expected to join the panel early next year, calling this essential for equitable access: “This will be critical for ensuring broader access to the Scheme. We urge all lenders, present and future to allow interested applicants to get access to the scheme through their mortgage brokers.”
The MFAA said it would continue working with Housing Australia, Housing Minister Clare O’Neil, participating lenders and the government to ensure the distribution structure supports informed consumer decisions and fair access.
CBA’s stance on Help to Buy mirrors its broader strategic shift toward proprietary lending. In its latest financial update, the major bank reported that 68 per cent of new mortgages in the September quarter were written through its own channels — part of a longer-term trend driven by digital-only pricing and expanded in-branch lending capacity.
The trend has heightened concerns among brokers about potential channel conflict and lender bias as major banks place greater emphasis on in-house mortgage distribution.
APRA DTI rules called into question
As well as the Help to Buy channel issue, broker associations have also been questioning the impact of new prudential rules that will limit higher debt-to-income ratio lending from next year.
On Thursday (27 November), the prudential regulator announced it would be bringing in a new speed limit for mortgages where debt is above, or equal to, six times income.
The limits for the banks will take effect for both owner-occupier and investor loans from 1 February 2026, as part of a pre-emptive move to contain “a build-up of housing-related vulnerabilities in the financial system”.
The move comes following an uptick in higher debt-to-income (DTI) lending, particularly for investor lending.
Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA) regulatory compliance specialist David Carson warned that this may introduce unintended consequences.
“This is a very blunt tool that has potential to hurt some groups more than others. APRA has effectively decided you can’t live in a home that costs more than six times your current income unless you have a very large deposit," Carson said.
“A household with an annual income of $100,000 would be restricted to a loan of $600,000. With national median property prices closing in on the $900,000 mark these rules are definitely going to bite hardest on those seeking to enter the market or looking to upgrade if they don’t have substantial equity.
“It poses a very real risk that APRA may be putting unnecessary barriers in place for aspiring homeowners.
“Aspiring homeowners were recently given some encouragement with the expansion of the 5 per cent deposit scheme, allowing more prospective homeowners to move into the market sooner. The APRA debt-to-income ratio cap shifts the power back to those with large deposits.
“The six times limit also overrides the responsible lending rules and consideration of whether a consumer has capacity to service a higher loan based on their expectations of future wage growth, how they manage their household expenses and how much capacity they have to service any proposed loan," he said.
Carson continued: “The obvious question is how banks will determine the lucky 20 per cent they allow to exceed the six-times limit.
“How will that cohort be chosen by the banks?
“This has the very real potential to throttle the capability of the ordinary family borrower to buy a property and realise the benefits of home ownership.
“It is a material intervention from APRA, reminiscent of other interventions, including the 3 per cent serviceability buffer on home loans and back in 2014 and 2017 respectively, placing limits on banks for the proportion of investor and interest-only loans they could hold on their books.
“It is usually the case that those most heavily affected by these actions are the ones closest to the thresholds. In this case, aspiring homeowners with lower household income and smaller deposits.
“APRA says it has data that suggests this might have a bigger impact on investors than home owners although it is hard to see this being the case. APRA has also said there aren’t many lenders near the 20 per cent threshold, leading them to believe the immediate effects may be limited.
“With legitimate questions about how accurate their modelling and how robust the data is that these new rules are based on, the value of APRA’s new approach is open to question.”
[Related: APRA announces new lending limits]
