Ms SPENCE (Yuroke) (11:46:59) — (14 102) My constituency question is for the Treasurer. What is the latest information about how Yuroke residents are benefiting from the Andrews Labor government reforms to help Victorians entering the housing market and how many Yuroke residents have accessed this assistance? Many constituents in Yuroke moved to Melbourne’s outer north in order to purchase their first home. I am pleased that the Andrews Labor government’s measures to support first home buyers will continue to ensure that Yuroke remains a community of choice for young families. This includes the innovative HomesVic shared equity pilot scheme and the slashing of stamp duty. These reforms are particularly important given the Turnbull Liberal government is once again failing Victorians through their refusal to address housing affordability in any meaningful way. I thank the Treasurer for his work in this area, and I look forward to passing on his response to Yuroke residents.

Response:

Thank you for your question. The Andrews Labor Government is committed to ensuring that more Victorians have the opportunity purchase their first home. Part of this commitment includes the ongoing implementation of the government’s housing strategy: Homes for Victorians, which comprises 27 initiatives aimed at improving housing affordability, access and choice. These measures will benefit buyers, renters and Victorians in need, and will provide an economic boost to the construction sector.

These initiatives include abolishing stamp duty for purchases of up to $600 000 (with purchases of up to $750 000 receiving a tapered discount), doubling the First Home Owner Grant for purchases in regional areas to $20 000, and introducing the pilot HomesVic shared equity scheme. Through HomesVic, the government will co-purchase up to 400 homes in priority areas across Victoria, taking an equity share of up to 25 per cent. This will reduce the amount of money that participants would otherwise require to service a home loan, bringing them closer to the goal of home ownership.

First home buyers in the electorate of Yuroke, which falls within the municipality of Hume, are among the many benefiting from the government’s decision to abolish or reduce stamp duty for home purchases of up to $750 000. Between 1 July 2017 and 28 February 2018, 886 first home buyers in the municipality of Hume benefited from a stamp duty exemption, with an additional 121 benefiting from a reduction in stamp duty. This is a significant increase from the 572 first home buyers who had benefited from stamp duty concessions in the same area, during the same period, just one year earlier.

Residents of Yuroke, both renters and buyers, have also benefited from other Homes for Victorians initiatives, which include:

Shifting some of the balance back to first home buyers by making off-the-plan concessions fairer and introducing a Vacant Residential Property Tax

Facilitating the development of more than 50 000 additional new homes each year through smarter planning and faster approvals

Giving tenants more rights, helping them stay on longer leases, making bonds smaller and fairer, and cracking down on dodgy landlords with an unprecedented package of tenancy reforms

We expect potential buyers to continue to access this assistance, contributing to the growth of Victorian communities, including Yuroke.

TIM PALLAS MP
Treasurer