Millions of Australians eligible for 5% first home buyers scheme may be unable to afford repayments

Parliamentary Library analysis commissioned by the Greens show Labor’s new 5% deposit scheme for first home buyers risks putting millions of Australians into housing stress. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Millions of Australians eligible to take up the federal government’s new 5% deposit scheme could be unable to afford mortgage repayments, new analysis has shown.

Data compiled by the Parliamentary Library and commissioned by the Greens shows of the 3.8 million Australians in the top 10 most common professions in Australia, the vast majority would be unable to afford mortgage repayments on the median Australian home without falling into housing stress.