PM BITES BACK ON HOME SUPER PLAN

THE Coalition’s plan to let first home buyers access their retirement funds to enter the property market is “well designed and well thought out” Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said while refusing to reveal if the government had commissioned analysis or research on the policy.

He also rejected criticism the policy would raise house prices, claiming the super scheme needed to be viewed “in balance” with the government’s other housing policies, including HomeBuilder and the First Home Super Saver Scheme.

Mr Morrison, during the Coalition’s campaign launch in Brisbane on Sunday, revealed a plan to allow first home buyers to tap into up to 40 per cent or take $50,000 from their superannuation funds in order to break into the property market.

The new housing pitch, known as the Super Home Buying Scheme, has been criticised by economists, finance peak bodies, the Property Council of Australia and Industry Super Australia.

Federal Labor has also panned the policy, saying it would cause housing to become less achievable.

Mr Morrison said the policy was “well thought out” and “well designed”.

But he refused to confirm if the Coalition had done any analysis into the benefits of the scheme to counter criticism from most fronts — except construction bodies and property developers — that doing this would cause house prices to rise even higher.

“What could possibly be wrong with letting Australians use their own savings to buy the most important asset they will ever own?” Mr Morrison said.

“The proportion of first time buyers of the entire real estate market is marginal and therefore many of the assumptions that others have made about this have been based on false assumptions.”

Economist Saul Eslake skewered the scheme as one that would inflate house prices and “do nothing to increase home ownership”.