Opposition leader Angus Taylor has revealed he will ban foreigners and only allow Australian citizens to access the five per cent deposit scheme. 

Taylor told 2GB on Tuesday it was 'outrageous' permanent residents can access the scheme designed to help young Australians buy their first home. 

'This is a scheme designed for Australians to get into a home,' Taylor said. 

'Young Aussie citizens buying their first home, that's who this program is for.'

He confirmed that under a Coalition government, permanent residents would be banned from accessing the scheme, offering what he described as a 'sneak preview' of a policy announcement due later in the day.

'I will say at that speech that we will restrict that program to Australian citizens,' Taylor said. 

'That is what should happen.'

The scheme allows buyers to purchase a home with a five per cent deposit, with the government guaranteeing the remainder to avoid lenders mortgage insurance.

In recent years, the program has been expanded, including the removal of income caps and eligibility for permanent residents.

The Coalition has argued the changes have driven up competition in an already overheated housing market, particularly for first-home buyers. 

Almost 50,000 permanent residents are believed to have accessed the scheme. 

Under current rules, permanent residents who already own property overseas can still qualify, a situation that Taylor says undermines its original purpose. 

'The scheme has been allowed to explode,' 2GB host James Willis said to Taylor. 

'Someone could be owning a home in America or Spain and still come here and take advantage of it.'

Taylor said the program had been distorted to 'make the numbers look better than they actually were'.

The housing announcement came as part of a broader hardline policy agenda unveiled by the Coalition, with immigration a central theme.

Taylor rejected claims the policy platform was designed to chase One Nation voters, saying his focus was on restoring trust in immigration and housing systems.

'I'm chasing Australian values,' he said. 

'If people are to trust our immigration system, they need to know it's fair, firm and not being abused.'

On housing more broadly, Taylor said net overseas migration numbers remained 'too high' and were contributing to a housing shortage that has pushed home ownership further out of reach for younger Australians.

'Younger Australians believe they may never own a home,' he said. 

'This is a hopeless situation and it must change.'

He said further announcements on cutting migration numbers would follow in coming months.

Conservative think tank The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), which includes former prime minister Tony Abbott as an affiliate, published its analysis of the latest Overseas Arrivals and Departures database from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

It found net permanent and long-term arrivals to the country totalled 494,540 in the 12 months to January 2026, the highest in recorded history.

Home Affairs data shows there were 2.98million temporary visa holders staying or residing in Australia on January 1.