Media Release Begins

Today’s announcement by the Minister for Housing on the introduction of legislation that will give 40,000 families the ability to realise their home ownership dreams under the Help to Buy Scheme was welcomed by Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA).

“Home ownership is a critical piece of the housing puzzle and this Scheme represents a life changing opportunity for households who would otherwise never be able to own their home,” said Col Dutton, National President of UDIA.  

Under the Federal initiative, eligible homebuyers with a minimum 2% deposit, will get up to a 40% equity contribution towards a new home or a 30% contribution for an existing home and be able to take advantage of lower ongoing repayments.

States will need to pass their own legislation in order for the Help to Buy scheme to operate in their jurisdiction nationally from next year.

The Help to Buy Scheme comes on the heels of the expanded Home Guarantee Scheme designed to enable access to home ownership for 86,000 families and 13,000 households in regional areas.

The Government’s breadth of housing initiatives include the Housing Australia Future Fund for 40,000 affordable and social houses and the Housing Accord’s further 10,000 houses and the Social Housing Accelerator for 4,000 new social homes across Australia. These measures are a reassuring sign to industry that governments are working together to put in place as many levers as possible to give us the best chance of navigating a difficult housing environment.

“Federal, state and territory plans for accelerating planning approvals will also need to be fast tracked across the whole housing continuum along with the release of more development ready land to keep housing supply and affordability manageable,” said Mr Dutton.

While there will always be more work to do to balance housing needs, UDIA is pleased to see these important steps being introduced to ensure home ownership measures are balanced by supply boosting initiatives to counter upward pressure on prices.  

UDIA looks forward to working with Government to ensure housing initiatives continue to deliver access to homes for all Australians.

-ENDS-

MEDIA CONTACTS AND REQUESTS FOR INTERVIEW:
Deanna Lane | Director, National Media & Communications
0416 295 898 | media@udia.com.au