“We bought a townhouse so small you could accidentally lose it under a rug or something,” jokes an – in fact – very grateful Jordy Lawrence.

A writer and NDIS support worker, he and his social worker partner, Hannah Ho, became proud property owners in just July last year.

When both parties launched their campaigns, they put first home affordability front and centre of their pitch to voters.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen, James Brickwood

Both aged in their 30s, the couple bought a nearly 30-year-old townhouse on the Sunshine Coast using what is a central plank of Labor’s re-election bid: the First Home Guarantee Scheme. 

They paid below the current $700,000 purchase price limit for their area – about $600,000; all price limits would be raised dramatically from January 1 as one of Labor’s election promises (Sydney’s to $1.5 million, Brisbane’s to $1 million and Melbourne’s to $950,000).

At the same time, the income caps for eligibility would be removed and places made unlimited to open up access to every first home buyer – the government says this will see places go from 40,000 a year to an uptake by about 80,000 Aussies.

The problem is you’re still being saddled with insane debt and nothing seems to be being done about that side of things.

So, what made Jordy and Hannah use the scheme? The move meant the couple could:

“It would have........

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