· In short: Tasmanian Labor has announced a shared equity scheme that would enable people earning up to a certain amount to buy a house with no deposit, as part of their state election campaign.

· The Liberals brought in a similar scheme in 2022, but Labor's has a higher income eligibility threshold and says it will help more people.

· What's next? Independent economist Saul Eslake warns shared equity schemes may help some people into home ownership, but won't significantly change rates of home ownership, and could push house prices up.

Looking out into a sea of red-clad supporters waving red signs at Labor's election campaign launch on Monday, the party's leader Rebecca White unveiled a centrepiece policy for the March 23 election.

Ms White said Labor would introduce a more generous shared equity scheme than the one introduced by the Liberals in 2022.

"Labor's GameChanger scheme will enable any eligible Tasmanian who does not currently own their own home to buy a house with zero deposit … we'll put up the deposit you need — and you can pay us back when you sell the house," she said.

"If you can afford to pay your rent, you can afford to pay a mortgage … we'll make sure that having to pay rent each week doesn't stop you from being able to afford to buy a place of your own."

A shared equity scheme enables someone to buy a home with some help from the government, which retains a share in the property.

Different schemes have different rules about when and how that share is paid back.

What is Labor promising?

Under Tasmanian Labor's plan, couples earning up to $200,000 and single people earning up to $150,000 — with extra allowances made for children — will be eligible for the scheme.

They do not need to have a deposit saved, and the government would take a 20 per cent share of the property, although higher shares will be considered if need can be demonstrated.

The share would be paid back when the person sells the house, or when they want to buy the government out.

There is cap on the value of eligible properties — $600,000 for existing houses and $800,000 for new builds, but there is no cap on the number of people who can participate.

Labor anticipates 1,000 people would be part of the scheme in its first two years.

The scheme will be reviewed after that period, and may be extended.

How does Labor's scheme compare with the Liberals' scheme?

Liberals candidate Nic Street described Labor's policy as a "dud renovator's delight".

"All Ms White has done is take our existing policy, put a lick of paint on it, and shamelessly tried to pretend it's something brand new," Mr Street said.

The Liberals' scheme, MyHome, introduced in 2022, has been used by 190 households, according to Mr Street.

It is available to couples earning up to $107,000 and single people earning up to $93,000. There are extra allowances made for children.

The participant must have a minimum deposit of 2 per cent of the purchase price.

Under MyHome, the value of new homes is not capped, and the value of existing homes is capped at $600,000.

The amount of equity the government holds — through Homes Tasmania — is up to a maximum of $200,000 or 40 per cent (whichever is the lesser amount) for new builds, and up to a maximum of $150,000 or 30 per cent (again, whichever is the lesser amount) for existing homes.

The scheme also has different rules for Homes Tasmania tenants who are purchasing a Homes Tasmania property.

Homes Tasmania's share must be paid out within 30 years.

The federal government and other states have their own shared equity schemes.

Do shared equity schemes work?

Independent economist and Vice Chancellor's fellow at the University of Tasmania Saul Eslake, said shared equity schemes, like tax breaks and grants for home owners, benefited people already in the property market.

"We've got 60 years of experience with schemes of different sorts, that put cash into the hands of would-be homebuyers, or which reduce the amount of tax they have to pay when they buy a home in the form of stamp duty, or which allow them to take out bigger mortgages than they otherwise would.

"And yet despite 60 years of schemes like that, the home ownership rate has been going down, especially for people under the age of 45, among whom nationally the home ownership rate is now lower than it was at the census of 1954," Mr Eslake said.

"Some people will be helped into home ownership by [a shared equity scheme], but one of the side effects of that is that the price of housing is likely to rise by more in Tasmania that it would have otherwise," he said.

"The best thing you can say about it is that at least taxpayers will get their money back when the house that people buy or flats that people buy with this scheme is eventually sold and assuming the price of the flat or house goes up over the period."

More votes in keeping house prices high, Eslake says

Mr Eslake said it was in governments' interests to keep house prices high.

"In any given year, nationally, there are only about 100,000 people who succeed in becoming first home buyers, and let's say that for every one who does, there are another there are another four or five who failed to achieve [that] goal … that's, say, 400,000 or 500,000 votes across the country for policies that would restrain the rate at which house prices go up.

"At the same time, there are more than 11 million Australians who own at least one property, typically their own home, about 20 per cent of Australian adults own at least one investment property.