Labor pledges to help first home-buyers
A Rudd Labor government will help first home-buyers get into the housing market with a new superannuation-style saving scheme.
Janelle Saffin, Labor Candidate for Page, says Kevin Rudd’s new low-tax First Home Saver Accounts will be a great way for young people in the local area to save up for a deposit on their first home.
For example, a couple – each on an average wage and saving 10 per cent of their income – would be able to save a deposit of around $64,000 over five years. This is around $14,500 — or 30 per cent — more than could be achieved by saving through an ordinary deposit account, Ms Saffin said.
“A larger deposit will also reduce the debt burden for young homebuyers, and Labor will retain the first home owners grant in addition to this new savings plan,” she said.
Ms Saffin says housing stress just keeps on going up in Page, and has been made worse by the five interest rates rises since John Howard’s promise to keep interest rates at record lows.
“As house prices reach record levels, many young people are afraid of being priced out of the market. Saving a deposit can be hard, particularly for those paying high rents,” she said.
“Kevin Rudd is determined to help alleviate the housing affordability crisis.”
Ms Saffin said the First Home Saver Accounts follow Labor’s other initiatives to tackle mortgage and rental stress which include:
A Housing Affordability Fund to tackle the dwindling construction rates for new residential housing related to the cost of infrastructure, saving new home buyers up to $20,000;
A National Rental Affordability Scheme to stimulate the construction of up to 50,000 new affordable rental properties across Australia, for rent to low-income families at 20 per cent below market rates;
Appointing a Cabinet Minister responsible for Federal policy on housing (there is no such minister in Mr Howard’s Government).
Ms Saffin says there is a real choice at the next election for people who are struggling to find affordable housing in Page.
More information on the how the First Home Saver Account would work is available at www.alp.org.au
