First Home Finance: The subsidy that helps first-time buyers

Article summary

• First Home Finance helps first-time homeowners with a low income purchase a property.
• First Home Finance is a rebranding of the FLISP program.
• ooba Home Loans can help you apply for First Home Finance, allowing you to submit an application online in a matter of minutes.

If you want to buy a home but fear you can’t afford it, it’s good to know that there is a government subsidy for first-time homebuyers in the form of First Home Finance.

This subsidy helps low-income earners get on the property ladder.

What is First Home Finance?

If you’ve heard of FLISP (Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme), then First Home Finance is simply a rebranding of this program which has already helped many low-income earners become property owners.

How much is the subsidy?

The subsidy ranges from R30 001 to R130 000. The lower your income, the higher the subsidy.

See the subsidy amounts in more detail below:

How do I qualify for the First Home Finance subsidy?

You need to meet the following criteria:

• Your income must range from R3 501 to R22 000 per month.
• You must be a South African citizen with permanent residency in South Africa.
• You must not have received a government housing subsidy before.
• You must be married or cohabiting OR single with financial dependents.
• You must be over 18 years old.
• You must not have owned a fixed residential property before.

How do I apply for the First Home Finance subsidy?

You can apply through your financial institution, but it’s much easier to apply via ooba Home Loans.

You can submit an online application in a matter of minutes, and we then submit the paperwork on your behalf and monitor the process, keeping you abreast of its progress.

At the same time, we can submit your home loan application. The First Home Finance subsidy means your home loan will be more likely to be approved, and we in turn help you get an even better deal by submitting the application to multiple banks.

First Home Finance helps you with your home loan application by:

• Providing funds that will help you pay off the home loan, makes the bank more likely to approve it.
• Lowering your interest rates by being used as a deposit or a lump sum payment into the home loan.

As such, First Home Finance will allow many South Africans to make their dream of homeownership a reality, and strengthen society as a whole by promoting homeownership.