The Bank of Mum and Dad remains one of the largest sources of deposit funding in the Australian property market. Many first home buyers reach a deposit only because a parent contributed cash, guaranteed a loan, or released equity from their own home.
Where it goes next is less certain. Recent budget changes have left parents weighing up whether to keep helping their children into a home or return to investing in their own name. With tax pressure rising, neither option is clearly better, and many families are working through the numbers without much guidance.
For buyers relying on family support, the structure matters as much as the amount. Lenders treat a gift, a loan and a guarantee quite differently, and each affects borrowing capacity in its own way. Sorting this out before starting a property search avoids discovering late that the money cannot be used the way everyone assumed.
Parents should also be clear on their exposure. A guarantee puts their own property at risk, which is worth confirming in writing before anything is signed.
Transcript
The Bank of Mum and Dad, still very prevalent. That's still coming into the market. It will be interesting to see how that translates post budget, whether or not you know mums and dads are going to be helping their children more as opposed to investing. Yes. I think so. Well, what else are you going to do? Like, you know, you got to get taxed more everywhere. I think yeah, I think there's going to be no win.
