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Solo home ownership in Australia is genuinely hard right now. Saving a deposit while paying rent, managing cost-of-living pressures, and watching prices move faster than your savings can keep pace with – it’s a frustrating cycle a lot of first home buyers know well.
So it’s no surprise that one of the fastest-growing strategies right now is co-buying – purchasing a property together with a friend, sibling, or other family member. Over 2,700 friend and family group applicants have already purchased together through the Government’s deposit scheme alone, and that number is climbing. Following the scheme’s expansion to include any joint applicants, friend and family group buyers purchasing a home together are now a demonstrably growing cohort. Housing Australia
It can absolutely work. But it’s a financial arrangement that requires a lot more thought than splitting the grocery bill.
Here’s what to understand before you sign anything.
What's new · still flying under the radar
You're assessed as a collective
Both of you need to be eligible first home buyers for the grants and concessions to apply. If one person doesn't qualify, the whole purchase doesn't qualify, so check both eligibility situations before you get attached to a specific property.
Both eligible? You unlock the full QLD stack
$30,000
First Home Owner Grant
$0
Stamp duty on a new build
5%
Deposit scheme, no LMI
Before you fall for a property: confirm you and your co-buyer both qualify first. The numbers only stack up when both of you are eligible first home buyers.
This is the part of co-buying that gets glossed over in the excitement of finally being able to get into the market – and it’s probably the most important thing to understand.
Joint and several liability means that even if you only own 50% of the house, the bank holds you 100% responsible for the debt. If your co-buyer loses their job and stops paying their half of the mortgage, the bank will not pursue them for 50% – they will pursue you for the full 100%. Loanmarket
This isn’t a technicality. It’s the default position for any joint home loan in Australia. It means you’re not just buying property together – you’re each guaranteeing the other’s entire share of the debt. That’s a serious commitment, and it’s worth thinking through carefully before you choose who you buy with.
There are two ways to legally hold co-owned property in Australia, and the difference matters more than most buyers expect.
Equal, undivided ownership
Joint Tenants
Best suited to married or de facto couples
Flexible, individually owned shares
Tenants in Common
Best suited to friends & siblings buying together
Why tenants in common usually wins: for most friends or siblings buying together, it reflects real-world differences in contribution, like a larger deposit, and gives each person independent control over their share.
Your co-ownership agreement should cover
01
All financial arrangements between owners
02
Each person's responsibilities and obligations
03
A clear exit strategy for dissolving the partnership
Get a property lawyer to set it up
A lawyer can structure the ownership and draft your co-ownership agreement. Genuinely worth every dollar.
$2,000 – $4,000
Typical one-off cost
The biggest mistake co-buyers make is assuming they’ll figure it out when someone wants to leave. A far better approach is to plan for a short-term venture – say three to five years – where at the end of that term both parties are forced to re-evaluate: sell, refinance, or hold. Loanmarket
Your co-ownership agreement should spell out: what happens if one person wants to sell and the other doesn’t, how you’d handle a buyout (including how the property would be valued), what happens if one person can no longer meet their repayments, and how major decisions about the property are made.
None of this is pessimistic – it’s just practical. Friends who plan the exit from the start are far more likely to reach it without conflict than those who assume goodwill will carry them through.
If you and a co-buyer are both eligible first home buyers in Queensland, a house and land package is actually one of the most practical ways to structure this.
You both choose the design together from the start – there’s no compromising on someone else’s existing layout or finishes. The construction period, which typically runs six to twelve months, gives both of you time to get your finances organised and any co-ownership agreements properly drafted before you’re living in the property. And you access the full stack of QLD new build incentives – the $30,000 FHOG, zero stamp duty with no price cap, and the 5% Deposit Scheme – as long as you both meet the eligibility criteria.
It’s also worth noting that new builds carry lower maintenance costs in the early years, which matters when two people are splitting costs and trying to keep the financial arrangement simple and manageable.
On the surface those numbers look similar. Once you apply the grants, stamp duty, and maintenance reality, they stop being similar very quickly.
Talk to a mortgage broker who has experience with co-buying arrangements before you start looking at properties. They can run both your numbers together, identify any eligibility issues early, and help you structure the loan in a way that protects both parties.
Co-buying isn’t right for everyone, and it works best as a stepping stone – a way to get into the market now, build equity over a defined period, and then transition to independent ownership when the time is right. With the right structure and the right co-buyer, it’s a genuinely smart path in a market that has its challenges buying alone.