State Member for Hawkesbury – Hon. Dominic Perrottet MP
Making housing more affordable is a key objective of the NSW Government and I am keen to see that every young couple in this state has the opportunity to enter the housing market as early as possible. The NSW Government as part of the 2017-18 State Budget has allocated more than $720 million to be spent over the next four years to address the key issues facing prospective home owners today.
We as a Government believe that by increasing the availability of affordable housing, issuing incentives to first home buyers such as tax concessions and grants as well as good housing policy we can give first home buyers the keys to a new home.
Housing approvals throughout NSW have more than doubled since we came to Government in March 2011, with an average of 4,679 approvals per month, compared to 2,666 under Labor – this represents a 76 per cent increase.
The Government is abolishing stamp duty on all homes up to $650,000 which means that buyers could save up to $24,740 on their first home. We are also providing stamp duty relief for homes up to $800,000.
Buyers building their first home can receive $10,000 in grant funding on properties up to $750,000. This initiative will assist in stimulating the construction of new dwellings.
We have also abolished insurance duty on lenders’ mortgage insurance which gives thousands of dollars back to the buyer. Importantly, we are ensuring that foreign investors pay higher duties and land taxes as it’s fair to say that priority should always be given to Australian first home buyers. The Government is also no longer allowing investors to defer paying stamp duty on off-the-plan purchases. All these policies came into effect on 1 July 2017.
Making home ownership attainable for as many people as possible is our key focus and right now we are seeing more houses being built than at any time in NSW’s history. Today’s figures show that trend is set to continue.
We have a lot of young Australians in the Hawkesbury and Hills who are aspiring home owners. In my role, I want to see the best policies and outcomes emerge from our parliament that will directly benefit them.
For more information go to https://www.nsw.gov.au/improvingnsw/projects-and-initiatives/first-home-buyers/
