There is no doubt that we are in a housing affordability crisis in this country and that’s why I am looking at what Council can do to help Fairfield City first new home buyers into the market.
When a home is being built in NSW, a contribution is levied on builders by all councils. Fairfield City Council will shortly start a trial to give these contributions back to eligible first home buyers who are buying a newly-built home.
This rebate would see eligible first new home buyers in Fairfield City receive an amount of approximately $6,000 to $10,000 to help them buy their first home.
This will not only assist first new home buyers but will encourage builders to build new homes in the right locations. It would also mean that more rental properties could be freed up for others, as renters become home owners and move out of their rental properties.
We want to enable more young people to settle in our City and choose Fairfield as a place to raise their families.
I have written to the State and Federal governments to tell them of our proposed trial and to urge them to also drop taxes related to new housing for Australian first home buyers, including stamp duty, GST and the new $12,000 infrastructure tax on new dwellings.
According to the Housing Institute of Australia, 50% of the cost of a house and land package in Sydney goes to the Federal and State governments in taxes. We need to give Australians a chance to believe in the Australian dream of home ownership, which will also free up existing rental properties for others.
Council is doing what it can to make the dream of home ownership a reality and I am asking the State and Federal governments to also do much more to help.
If Fairfield City Council has the will to do this, the State and Federal governments should also find a way to give back some of the extra taxes they are collecting through increased housing demand and increased GST collected on rising house prices. Such a decision could see a reduction of hundreds of thousands of dollars for Australian first home buyers building a new home.
It’s important that during a crisis, and housing affordability is a generational crisis, that we do what we can to overcome it and that’s why Council is looking at what it can do right now to help first home buyers and also advocate for measures to increase housing supply and affordability.
