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The government’s plan to help home buyers with an equity contribution requires all states and territories to pass legislation to participate in the scheme.
While the federal legislation passed through the House of Representatives in February and facing an unclear future in the Senate, Queensland has nonetheless moved ahead to pave the way for the program to be rolled out in the Sunshine State.
The scheme would see the federal government support eligible home buyers with an equity contribution of up to 40 per cent for new homes and 30 per cent for existing homes.
Details on how the program would be administered and monitored were released for consultation late last month, with suggestions for eligibility criteria of participants and region-specific price caps.
As currently proposed, home purchases would be limited to prices ranging from $400,000 for buyers in the Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, to $950,000 for Sydneysiders. In Queensland, prices would be capped at either $700,000 in Brisbane and other major regional centres, and $550,000 outside of those locations.
With the Queensland government moving forward to pass the required legislation, Housing Minister Julie Collins doubled down on the potential of the scheme, should it be implemented.
“Across Queensland, Help to Buy will be life-changing, bringing home ownership back into reach for thousands of Queenslanders, particularly renters,” she said.
“We have already helped more than 30,000 Queenslanders into home ownership and Help to Buy will deliver even more assistance for home buyers,” Collins remarked.
The Housing Minister used the opportunity to urge political parties to unite behind the project: “The Liberals and Greens should stop standing in the way of Help to Buy and support it in the Senate.”
“Help to Buy is just one part of the Albanese Labor government’s broad and ambitious housing reform agenda backed by more than $25 billion in new investments,” she said.
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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