Stamp duty on properties worth up to $1 million will be scrapped for first home buyers in Victoria if the Coalition wins next year’s state election.
The state opposition announced the plan ahead of Tuesday’s budget reply speech, setting the stage for housing to be a major election battleground.
The stamp duty exemption will exist for all first home buyers purchasing properties up to $1 million.
According to the Parliamentary Budget Office, the plan will benefit up to 17,000 Victorians, with savings of up to $55,000.
Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin said the Coalition’s housing policy was the “circuit-breaker Victoria desperately needs.”
“This is a bold, common-sense reform that backs aspiration, rewards hard work, and helps young Victorians break into the housing market,” Mr Battin said.
Shadow treasurer James Newbury said the policy would remove one of the biggest barriers to young people getting on the housing ladder.
“For too many young Victorians, the first home dream has become a nightmare,” Mr Newbury said.
“This policy is about giving aspirational first home buyers the final leg up they need.
“It’s about giving young Victorians a fair go.”
A first home buyer stamp duty exemption exists for properties worth up to $600,000, with concessional rates for properties up to $750,000.
Owner occupiers whose properties are valued at less than $550,000 are also eligible for reduced stamp duty fees.
Earlier this month, the Allan government announced a 12-month extension to its temporary stamp duty savings scheme for apartments, units and townhouses that are bought off the plan.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Premier Jacinta Allan said the opposition’s policy was a “cut and paste” of the government’s existing policy.
“What we’ve seen is a bit of a cut and paste from the Liberal Party of arrangements that we already have in place here in Victoria,” Premier Allan said.
“There are more first home buyers in Victoria than any other state in the nation, because we have existing arrangements in place that support them, and because we are building and completing more homes than any other state.”
The Premier also asked how the Coalition would pay for its commitment.
“There’s a big, giant question mark over this announcement today… because they have not come clean with Victorians on how they intend to pay for this announcement today,” Ms Allan said.
“What frontline services will they cut? What schools? What hospital services will they cut to pay for this commitment?
“You just can’t announce part of the policy… they have to explain the full arrangements.
“It just demonstrates again that young Victorians know you can’t trust the Liberal Party when it comes to helping them buy their first home, and Victorians more broadly know you can’t trust the Liberal Party, because when it comes to these sorts of decisions they will cut into those frontline services that families rely on.”
The Victorian Property Council backed the Coalition’s housing announcement on Tuesday, with Executive Director Cath Evans describing stamp duty as the “worst property tax of the lot”.
“Stamp duty acts as a tax on people’s aspirations, and current stamp duty exemption thresholds have not kept pace with the increase in average housing property prices,” Ms Evans said.
“This would remove a key obstacle to people’s ability to enter the housing market and sends a shot of confidence to the industry when it’s much needed.”
The Property Council boss said taxes and charges account for up to 43 per cent of the cost of a new home, a situation she described as “unsustainable”.
