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The government has passed a raft of measures designed to continue easing the challenges of entering the state’s housing market.
The Affordable Housing and Youth Employment Support Bill has passed both houses of government, serving to help first home buyers and pensioners in particular by raising the stamp duty threshold for people in those groups looking to buy.
The bill increases the threshold for the first home buyer and pensioner duty concession from $500,000 to $600,000,
This concession provides these groups with a 50 per cent discount on property transfer duty when they buy an established home - up until 30 June 2023.
To further support first home buyers, the government has indicated that it will also be extending the state’s $30,000 home buyer grant scheme until 30 June 2023.
This comes just a month after the Real Estate Institute of Tasmania (REIT) called for a broad review of the duty imposed on property purchases as the state’s property prices continued to rise.
The bill also allows the Commissioner of State Revenue to push back the completion date requirements of the Tasmanian HomeBuilder grant – a program it introduced in 2021 to complement the federal government’s scheme.
Finally, the new measures support the construction sector, among other industries, by extending the payroll tax rebate for apprentices, trainees and youth employees.
“We recognise that there are challenges in our housing market. That is why we are continuing to provide targeted action to support home ownership,” Michael Ferguson, minister for state development, construction and housing said.
“The Government’s continued focus on the construction of new homes will also contribute to the supply of new housing and support employment in the Tasmanian building and construction sector.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Juliet Helmke
Based in Sydney, Juliet Helmke has a broad range of reporting and editorial experience across the areas of business, technology, entertainment and the arts. She was formerly Senior Editor at The New York Observer.
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