· Built around the FLISP subsidy (First Home Finance) calculator
Photo: Gustavo Fring on Pexels (free licence)
Two ideas come up whenever a first home feels just out of reach. One is real money from the government: the First Home Finance subsidy, still widely called FLISP, which pays a once-off grant into your home loan. The other is a product some lenders offer: a bond where you pay only the interest for a while. This post works both with real numbers using the FLISP subsidy calculator and the interest-only bond calculator, checks them against published figures, and shows where each one helps and where it bites.
Run your own numbers
Type your household's gross monthly income (both partners together), the price of the home and any deposit. The calculator finds your step in the NHFC table and shows what the subsidy does to your instalment.
Checked against a published example
Both calculators were run on the inputs of published figures before this post was written:
- FLISP step 47 pays R102 622.74 and step 91 pays R38 911.40 - Briefly News, First Home Finance guide (27 August 2026), quoting the NHFC Subsidy Quantum Table of 1 April 2023. Our FLISP calculator gives exactly R102 622.74 for an income of R12 800 (step 47, R12 701 to R12 900.99) and R38 911.40 for R21 900 (step 91).
- The full range is R38 911 to R169 265, for joint incomes of R3 501 to R22 000 a month - Standard Bank's FLISP page. Our calculator gives R169 264.60 at R3 600 (step 1) and nothing above R22 000.99.
- A R1 million bond over 20 years costs R10 837 a month at 11.75% and R10 492 at 11.25% - BusinessTech's home loan repayment example. Our interest-only calculator's normal-bond line gives R10 837.07 and R10 492.56. Its interest-only line is loan x rate / 12: R1 000 000 x 11.75% / 12 = R9 791.67.
No differences found - neither calculator needed a fix.
How First Home Finance (FLISP) works
- It is a once-off grant, not a loan - the National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC) pays it into your home loan account, which lowers what you owe.
- Household income must be R3 501 to R22 000 a month, gross, you and your spouse or partner together.
- You must be a first-time owner: a South African citizen or permanent resident, 18 or older, who has never owned a home or had a government housing subsidy.
- You need a home loan approved in principle by a registered lender - or it can go towards building on your own serviced site.
- The lower your income, the bigger the grant - 91 steps of R200, each about R1 449 smaller than the one before.
- Lenders may not charge you for it, the NHFC says. Apply through your bank or the NHFC.
Worked example 1: R12 800 a month, R500 000 home
- A couple earning R12 800 a month together falls in step 47 (R12 701 to R12 900.99) - a subsidy of R102 622.74 (FLISP calculator).
- The bond drops from R500 000 to R397 377.26.
- At prime of 10.75% over 20 years the instalment is R4 034.29 a month instead of R5 076.14 - R1 041.86 less, every month, for 20 years (bond repayment calculator).
- That R4 034 is 31.5% of their R12 800 income - below the roughly 30-35% most banks look at, so the subsidy can be what gets the loan approved. Check yours with the bond affordability calculator.
Worked example 2: R15 000 a month, R650 000 home, R20 000 saved
- R15 000 a month is step 58 - the one R100-wide step in the table (R14 901 to R15 000.99) - and pays R86 686.64.
- Their R20 000 deposit plus the subsidy leaves a bond of R543 313.36 on the R650 000 price.
- The instalment is R5 515.87 a month instead of R6 395.94 with only the deposit - R880.07 less.
- Transfer and bond registration costs still have to be paid - see the bond costs calculator. A first home under the transfer duty threshold pays no transfer duty, but attorneys' fees still apply.
- Saving towards a deposit? The bond deposit calculator shows how long it takes.
Photo: Raphael Loquellano on Pexels (free licence)
Worked example 3: the top of the band, R21 900 a month
- At R21 900 a month the subsidy is the smallest: R38 911.40 (step 91).
- On a R750 000 home the bond falls to R711 088.60 and the instalment to R7 219.18 - R395.04 a month less than R7 614.22.
- A R2 100 raise to R24 000 a month means no subsidy at all - the full R750 000 bond, R7 614.22 a month. If an increase is coming, apply before it lands, and tell the bank the truth either way.
Interest-only: a lower repayment that costs more
An interest-only bond charges just the interest - loan x rate / 12 - so the capital never shrinks while it lasts. Few South African banks offer it on a home loan, mostly to investors and on access bonds. It is not a first-time-buyer product, but people ask about it because the number looks friendlier.
Worked example 4: R1 350 000 at 10.75%, three ways
- A normal 20-year bond is R13 705.59 a month, R1 939 342 interest over the term (interest-only calculator).
- Interest only for 2 years: R12 093.75 a month, then R14 155.90 for 18 years - R58 582 more interest.
- Interest only for 5 years: R12 093.75, then R15 132.80 for 15 years - R1 427.21 a month more than the normal bond, and R160 187 more interest in all.
- Interest only for the whole 20 years: R2 902 500 interest and you still owe R1 350 000 - R963 158 more interest than repaying from day one.
- The R1 612 a month you "save" at first is borrowed from your later self - only worth it if that money earns more than 10.75% after tax, or pays off dearer debt.
Not verified from a primary source this run: the BusinessTech page (R10 837 and R10 492) blocked our checker, so those two figures were read from search results that quote it. The NHFC table used is the 1 April 2023 one, which the NHFC still publishes - confirm your step with the NHFC or your bank when you apply, in case it has been updated. Instalments here use prime of 10.75%; your bank may quote above or below prime, and leave out insurance and fees. The 30-35% affordability guide is a rule of thumb, not a bank rule.
What to do this month
- Add up your household's gross monthly income and find your step in the FLISP calculator.
- Ask your bank for pre-approval and mention First Home Finance - the subsidy needs an approved-in-principle home loan.
- Offered an interest-only period? Put the offer through the interest-only calculator and look at the repayment after it ends, not just the first one.
Sources
Calculators used in this post
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