Low to moderate earners have a fresh pathway to homeownership after Labor's signature housing policy passed parliament.
The Help to Buy scheme is a shared equity program that will allow 40,000 eligible buyers to purchase a home with contribution from the federal government.
With equity assistance of 40 per cent for new homes and 30 per cent for existing homes, homebuyers will be able to buy with a smaller deposit and mortgage.
Homebuyers will need a minimum two per cent deposit to be eligible and will have lower ongoing repayments.
"Today, thousands of hardworking Australians - educators, carers, cleaners and teachers - who have been locked out of the housing market, will have a better shot at owning their own home," Housing Minister Clare O'Neil said on Wednesday.
The scheme has long struggled to secure political support, with the federal coalition broadly opposed to government co-ownership and the Greens pushing for caps on rent increases and other measures.
After months of debate, the minor party agreed to wave through the legislation earlier this week, along with pledging support for a separate build-to-rent housing bill.
The build-to-rent policy involves tweaks to tax settings to spur foreign investment in a specific style of housing development where homes are rented rather than sold.
Opposition housing spokesman Michael Sukkar said shared equity schemes were the province of state and territory governments and many places in these programs had gone unused.
"If you're thinking how you can help first home buyers, why on earth would you replicate a product that's already been rejected?" he said in parliament.
Ms O'Neil said it was disappointing the opposition tried to block the scheme when the Queensland Liberal National Party recently committed to creating its own shared equity program.
"Australians have a choice between a reckless and arrogant party of pessimism in the coalition or a party of progress in a Labor government that wants to build Australia's future."
The housing measure passed parliament as Australian Council of Social Service and the University of NSW revealed private renters were twice as likely than the general population to be forced to go without two or more essentials.
Yearly dental check-ups and $500 rainy day funds were listed as examples in the study.
