Help to Buy bill passes through Senate

This decision allows the Labor Party’s Help to Buy policy – comprising the Help to Buy Bill 2023 and the Help to Buy (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2023 – to proceed, enabling the federal government to implement a shared equity home buying scheme aimed at first home buyers.

The bill will now proceed to the House of Representatives for a final vote, where it is expected to pass as a result of the Labor majority.

The Labor Party’s other flagship housing policy, the Build to Rent Bill – comprising the Treasury Laws Amendment (Build to Rent) Bill 2024 and the Capital Works (Build to Rent Misuse Tax) Bill 2024 – is scheduled to be voted on later today, and aims to change the tax setting to incentivise foreign investment in the build-to-rent (BTR) sector while imposing stricter penalties when tax concessions are improperly claimed due to BTR development ineligibility.

Commenting on the anticipated passage of both bills on Tuesday morning, the Housing Industry Association (HIA) welcomed the Green’s support and added that the policies will “play an important role in supporting more young Australians’ access to housing” while addressing the “declining rates of home ownership”.

Managing director of the HIA, Jocelyn Martin, described the Help to Buy scheme as an “important initiative” that will enable “40,000 eligible home buyers to obtain and secure a deposit for a new home faster”.

“Equally, the Build-to-Rent Bill, coupled with broader targeted policy measures, has the potential to boost the number of rental properties and specifically new apartments which are in critical shortages, with rental vacancies at record levels and apartment construction numbers at decade lows,” she said.

Martin emphasised that the measures supported by the housing bills, alongside other forms of housing incentive programs would be “critical” to boosting housing supply and supporting first home buyers to raise home deposits more quickly and easily.

“We know from previous schemes, including the first home loan guarantee scheme and state and territory first home buyer grants, that targeted housing support measures work, and are effective in helping bridge the deposit to get people into their own home sooner,” Martin said.

Property Council chief executive Mike Zorbas previously highlighted the impact that the Build-to-Rent Bill could have on future supply, pointing to modelling from EY on behalf of the Property Council which showed the policy could incentivise the construction of over 100,000 dwellings over the next decade.

While the president of the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA), Leanne Pilkington, acknowledged that the bills were not the entire solution for the nation’s housing challenges, she stated the policies could play an important part in addressing the greater housing crisis.

“These bills mark a positive step towards easing the housing crisis. However, they must be part of a broader strategy that prioritises increasing supply to meet the needs of Australians now and into the future,” Pilkington said.