PM unveils $10b pledge to get Australians into their first homes

People looking to buy their first homes with deposits as low as 5 per cent would also be able to purchase at a significantly higher price, as Mr Albanese promises to expand access to the home buyer guarantee scheme.

"I want to help young people and first home buyers achieve the dream of home ownership," Mr Albanese said.

The announcement aims to address a key voter concern about housing affordability as the federal election campaign enters its third week.

Labor is eager to assure voters that its efforts to date to address the housing crisis - including its help-to-buy scheme, under which the government co-owns houses with first-home buyers, and its Housing Australia Future Fund - are just the beginning.

Housing Minister Clare O'Neil said the party was "backing in first home buyers."

Young Australians are bearing the brunt of the housing crisis, and our government is going to step up to give them a fair go at owning their own home," Ms O'Neil said.

The $10 billion pledge to build 100,000 affordable homes is made up of $2 billion worth of grants and $8 billion in zero-interest loans or equity investments, primarily to states and territories, which would be required to stump up $2 billion of their own towards the grant program.

It would be delivered over eight years, with construction hoped to start by 2026-27 and buyers to move in from 2027-28.

The plan includes opening up vacant or underutilised government land for residential development, with state and territory governments to be required to fast-track land release, upzoning and planning approvals.

Under the promised expansion of the home buyer guarantee scheme, the maximum house price would increase - in the ACT, from $750,000 to $1 million, enabling first home buyers to purchase a median-priced house in the territory with a 5 per cent deposit if all other lending criteria area were met.

The changes would kick in on January 1, 2026 following industry consultation.

The federal government guarantees up to 15 per cent of a property's value under the scheme, enabling people to buy with deposits as low as 5 per cent, enabling them to avoid paying mortgage lenders' insurance.

Currently, first home buyers are only eligible if their taxable income is $125,000 or less for individuals and $200,000 or less for couples. These limits would be abolished.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who used his budget-in-reply speech to pledge to scrap the HAFF, is targeting Australians' cost-of-living concerns as he attacks the Albanese government.

Mr Dutton, who has declared that he wants to be the "prime minister for home ownership", has missed no opportunity to remind voters of this on the campaign trail.

"We have an opportunity to get our country back on track ... to make sure we can restore the dream of home ownership," he told reporters in Perth on Friday.

The Coalition has pledged to allow first home buyers to access their superannuation for house deposits and to compel the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority to reduce the mortgage serviceability buffer from 3 per cent to 2.5 per cent.

The existing first home guarantee scheme was established by the former Morrison government and expanded under Mr Albanese's prime ministership.

Treasury forecasts say making it accessible to all first home buyers will almost double its uptake to about 80,000 first home buyers a year.

A report published by the Monash Centre for Youth Policy and Education Practice found housing affordability was the top election issue for young voters, less than half of whom thought they would be able to buy their own homes.

Voters who responded to a survey by ACM, publisher of this masthead, nominated housing as one of their top concerns, with 20 per cent placing it in the top three issues that would influence their votes.

The cost of living generally was identified as the biggest issue of concern, with 35 per cent of respondents placing it in their top three.