All about shared equity

Our unique shared equity loan may be suitable for you if you're unable to apply for a traditional home loan from mainstream lenders or are unable to afford 100% of the purchase price of the home.

What is a shared equity loan?

These short videos walk you through what you need to know about shared equity.

What suits you?

At Keystart, we don't adopt a 'one type fits all' approach, as every person's situation is different. Our team will work with you to help you find a suitable solution for you, depending on your income and household size, whether that's a shared equity loan or one of our other loan products.

Our shared equity home loan assists you if you are unable to afford a 100% home loan, including if you:

are an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander wanting to share ownership. Read more about Aboriginal Home Loan.
are a sole parent wanting to keep your family home after a relationship breakdown or the death of a partner.
are currently living in public housing and wish to buy the home you are living in.
have a permanent disability, or you care for a dependant with a permanent disability that affects your housing needs. Read more about our Access Home Loan.
are looking for an apartment, townhouse, villa or unit with a maximum land size of up to 300 square metres in metro and up to 500 square metres in regional areas. Read more about our Urban Connect Shared Equity Home Loan.

What else is shared?

This will be your home, so general maintenance, payments for your rates, insurance, any strata levies and property valuations are solely the responsibility of yourself as the owner.

As a co-owner, the Housing Authority does not require you to pay rent or interest towards their share in the property. You're also able to increase your share of the loan by purchasing further shares when you are in a position to do so.

Note: if you have a fixed shared equity loan you will not be able to purchase further shares.

Types of shared equity loans

Shared equity loans fall under two categories.

1. Flexible shared equity

With a flexible shared equity loan, you can refinance or purchase more shares (percentage shares) in your property if you are in a financial position to do so.

2. Fixed shared equity

With a fixed shared equity loan, the percentage share of the property that you purchase will always remain the same. You are not able to purchase any further shares of your home or refinance to another lender. If you decide to sell your property, it must be sold back to the Housing Authority for the valuation price. This enables the Housing Authority to retain properties in key locations within the Perth Metro area.

If you opt for a fixed loan, while you'll never own your property outright, if your property value increases, so does the value of your share. An increase in equity will be beneficial to you if you choose to sell the property in the future. You can use the equity that has built up in your home loan to assist you in purchasing another home in the future.

The real plus with this type of loan is that the Housing Authority will always be there to buy your share back from you at its valued price. This reduces the selling time and you won't need to pay marketing fees, property listing fees or commission fees to a real estate agent as you would with a traditional house sale.

What can you buy under shared equity?

The first step would be to find out if you qualify for a Keystart loan. We will then assess which loan best suits your situation. Find out if you qualify.

For Shared Equity Home Loan

If you're eligible, you can view the available properties on the Opening Doors website. Properties include homes, apartments and units in areas around the Perth Metro area. You may be able to finance some other established properties depending on your current situation and additional needs.

Fixed shared equity loans are currently only applicable for properties in specific locations within the Perth Metro area, as listed on the Opening Doors website. This enables the State Government to provide ongoing affordable living options in key Perth Metro areas.

For Urban Connect Shared Equity Home Loan

If you're eligible, you can search for properties anywhere in Western Australia across online listings such as realestate.com.au and domain.com.au as long as they meet the Urban Connect Shared Equity loan criteria - including the maximum 300 sqm land requirement in metro and up to 500 sqm in regional areas.

Find out if you qualify

We have some eligibility criteria for our home loans. We call this pre-qualification. This is the first step in applying for a Keystart loan and it only takes about five minutes.

Do I qualify?

Managing a shared equity loan

Purchasing more shares in your home

We encourage you to purchase more shares in your home when you are in a position to do so. By purchasing more shares, you are reducing the Housing Authority's share of your home. You are moving towards managing a loan for 100% of your home.

You can purchase as many shares as you wish, with a minimum that you can opt to purchase at any one time is a 5% share.

If you decide to buy shares we will need to calculate what the Housing Authority's shares are worth for your home. We'll arrange for an independent property valuer to complete a valuation of your home so we can calculate this.

You don't have to buy more shares. We encourage you to buy more shares if it is suitable for you to do so, but you are not obliged to buy any further shares. Your share and the Housing Authority's share of your home has an impact if you wish to sell your home or refinance your loan.

Support through the process

As responsible lenders, we will provide support to you by considering any impacts this could have on you and your family. It's important to consider your financial situation before you purchase further shares, as you'll be increasing your loan amount with Keystart and, in turn, increasing your minimum monthly repayments.

We'll work with you to review your current income, any other debts you may have, your current expenses and the current value of your home. This will give you an indication as to whether or not purchasing further shares is suitable for you.

Even if a loan increase is not suitable for you at one time, this doesn't mean that you won't be able to do this in the future.

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