FEDERAL BUDGET 2021

No move to ease housing pressure

TREASURER Josh Frydenberg offered first-home buyers and single parents much needed help to purchase properties sooner but Tuesday’s Budget included no major new incentives to encourage urgently needed housing supply.

With critical housing shortages partly responsible for driving up property prices in most capitals, industry had been hopeful of a replacement or extension to the expired HomeBuilder scheme.

Instead, no changes were announced outside of a commitment to allow those who already applied for the scheme another 18 months to start their projects. This was despite the Treasurer labelling HomeBuilder — a $15,000 cashback for those building their homes — “a huge success” in his Budget speech.

Many of Mr Frydenberg’s Budget incentives for home seekers had already been announced prior to the Budget.

They included the Family Home Guarantee, which will allow 10,000 single parents with an annual income below $125,000 to purchase properties with a deposit as low as 2 per cent.

The existing First Home Loan Deposit scheme, rebranded as the New Home Guarantee, will be temporarily extended by releasing a further 10,000 places.

Government is also amending the First Home Super Saver Scheme to increase the maximum amount of voluntary contributions eligible to be released under the scheme from $30,000 to $50,000.

Real Estate Buyers Agents Association of Australia president Cate Bakos said the lack of major buyer incentives would be a “good thing”.