Member for Wyong and Shadow Minister for the Central Coast, David Harris, says thousands of first home buyers in the region could benefit from a new Labor plan to expand the number of first-home buyers paying no stamp duty or who can claim a steep discount.
Announced on January 9 by NSW Labor Leader Chris Minns in the lead-up to the March state election, the plan would see a Labor Government abolish stamp duty outright for first homebuyers buying a home worth up to $800,000 while offering a concessional rate to first-home buyers purchasing a property up to $1M.
Harris said the majority of suburbs across the Central Coast have properties for sale under $1M which means they would be attractive to first home buyers with savings on stamp duty of up to $30,000.
Labor says the plan is much more user-friendly than the Government’s First Home Buyer Choice legislation which will give first home buyers the choice between paying a large upfront stamp duty and a smaller annual property fee.
“In the upcoming NSW Election, people have a real choice – A Fresh New Plan for housing/rental affordability or a tired 12-year-old government that has introduced a new tax for First Home Buyers which they will have to pay every year they own their property,” Harris said.
“Labor’s approach is to address inequities in the rental and housing markets (and) make reforms that benefit, particularly, our younger generations that are struggling to afford to leave home.
“Housing and rental affordability have spiralled out of control under the Perrottet Government’s watch and they have failed on every level to intervene on behalf of families and individuals.
“NSW Labor, if elected in March, will bring a fresh approach to this important policy area with a real plan to make a difference.”
The announcement of Labor’s initiative comes as concerns rise that rapidly rising interest rates and tumbling real wages are combining to force first-home buyers out of the property market altogether.
The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that the number of first home buyers in NSW approved for a home loan has halved since the most recent peak in December 2020.
With the market tipping interest rates to rise to their highest level in more than 10 years, Labor’s plan is directed towards giving help to the first-home buyers most at risk of losing their foothold on the housing ladder.
With more housing policies still to come, a Minns Labor Government has already committed to: removing or reducing the stamp duty tax burden from 46,500 first home buyers over the next three years; abolishing the NSW Government’s forever land tax on the family home; creating a Rental Commissioner; protecting tenants from unfair evictions by requiring them to be given a lawful reason for terminating their lease; banning the practice of secret rent-bidding which pits tenants against each other in bidding war; implementing a Portable Bond Scheme to allow tenants to apply their current bond to their next lease; making it easier for renters to have pets in their homes; hosting a renters’ roundtable to hear from stakeholders and community groups; charging the Greater Cities Commission to rebalance population and housing growth by setting new housing targets on Metro lines to the city; introducing a mandatory requirement for 30 per cent of all homes built on surplus government land to be set aside for social, affordable and universal housing; and providing longer term funding certainty for homelessness and housing support organisations and tenancy advocacy services dealing with the fall-out from the housing crisis.
Source:
Media release, Jan 9
Member for Wyong, David Harris