Labor pledges support for 10,000 regional home buyers

The scheme, which would be implemented if an Albanese Labor government was elected into power at the upcoming federal election, would be targeted at regional families, and aims to triple the number of places that Australians living in regional areas received last year under the current First Home Loan Deposit Scheme.

According to the Opposition Leader, “regional first home buyers need and deserve their own dedicated scheme to support them to buy a home”.

Places will be reserved for Australians who have lived in that region for more than 12 months, and provide first home buyers with assistance to get into a house sooner with a 5 per cent deposit, without needing to pay lenders mortgage insurance (LMI).

“It is harder to buy a house today than ever before,” Mr Albanese conceded, noting how regional house prices had jumped, on average, by 26 per cent across 2021.

He also highlighted that a number of areas saw even higher rates of growth: Wamberal, Victoria (47.1 per cent); Terrigal, NSW (45.2 per cent); Kiama, NSW (35.7 per cent); Torquay, Victoria (34.5 per cent); Cessnock, NSW (33.3 per cent); Launceston, Tasmania (40.3 per cent); and Burnie, Tasmania (30.4 per cent).

Under the proposed scheme, first home buyers across NSW regions of Illawarra, Central Coast and Newcastle would be capped at $800,000, leading to potential mortgage insurance savings of $31,939.

Elsewhere in NSW, regional first home buyers would be capped at $600,000 – with the potential to save $23,954 on insurance costs with a smaller deposit required.

In Victoria’s Geelong, the property price cap would sit at $700,000 – offering potential savings of up to $27,946.

For all other regional parts of Victoria, house prices would be capped at $500,000 – a saving of up to $14,871.

Northern Territory regional home buyers will also be able to utilise the scheme up to a value of $500,000.

In Queensland, first home buyers and residents of the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast could use the scheme for homes up to the value of $600,000, and save up to $23,954 on LMI.

Elsewhere in the state, first home buyers could use the scheme for homes up to $450,000 – tapping into savings of $13,384.

In Western Australia and Tasmania, regional first home buyers will be capped on the purchase price of a property at $400,000 –  leading to $11,897 in potential insurance savings, while South Australian regional buyers will be able to access the scheme up to a property value of $350,000 –  and saving more than $10,000 on insurance costs.

The statement further indicated that an Albanese Labor government would “also improve the operation of the current [FHLDS] scheme by reviewing and updating the price caps on a six-monthly basis and improving the process of reallocating unused guarantees”. 

It comes one week after the federal government released its The Australian Dream report, following the inquiry into housing affordability and supply.