A centrepiece policy to help Australians buy a home is being promoted by Labor as the cost of living and prospect of interest rate hikes continue to bite.
A Labor government would establish a Help to Buy scheme for 10,000 Australians and provide an equity contribution of as much as 40 per cent of the purchase price of a new home and up to 30 per cent for an existing dwelling.
The plan is a practical measure to assist with cost of living pressures, Labor leader Anthony Albanese said.
“When people have a secure roof over their head, they have that sense of belonging, that sense of ownership, that sense of security and Labor’s determined to do all that we can to give people a more secure future,” he told reporters at a home in Gosford.
“What we know is interest rate rises will put more pressure on families. We’re putting forward practical measures.”
Mr Albanese visited the NSW central coast seats of Robertson and Dobell, the first held by the Liberals on a 4.2 per cent margin and the latter by Labor on a 1.5 per cent margin.
Sitting in her Gosford kitchen, Lydia Pulley told the opposition leader about her household’s struggle to make ends meet.
On a combined income of $92,000, the rising costs of living and rental stress have squeezed her and her partner’s finances and made saving for their house almost impossible, with the median house price pushing $1 million.
“It’s becoming harder to buy basic things you need at your house, basic sanitary items, food shopping, fuel,” she told AAP.
“There is no other plan in place that I feel that is going to fit this particular group of individuals, young people, who need to get into the housing market.”
The pricing caps have also raised questions about affordability, with the scheme’s cap for the Sydney region being $950,000.
Labor has defended the price caps, saying they’re based on the caps of the government’s home guarantee scheme and will be constantly reviewed as housing prices increase.
Liberals have criticised the scheme for allowing the government to profit off people’s houses.
But their criticism was blunted when an old interview resurfaced where the now prime minister pushed for a shared equity scheme.
“Shared equity mortgages are a really good opportunity if you do get into mortgage stress,” Scott Morrison said in 2008 when he was opposition housing spokesman.
“You can reconsolidate your mortgage, you can go on a situation where the bank take effectively a portion of equity in your property and that way you can reduce your payments.”
Labor campaign spokesman Jason Clare said it proved Mr Morrison had backflipped on his own support of Labor’s policy on the eve of an election.
“Scott Morrison, instead of doing a backflip worthy of (gymnast) Nadia Comaneci, you should be backing hard working Aussies who want to own their own home,” he said.
But Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar defended the prime minister’s historical comments and said they referred to bank and private sector schemes instead of government-run programs.
Mr Sukkar also tried to frame children buying out the government’s stake of the home when their parents pass away as a tax, which was rejected by Mr Clare.
“What we’re doing here is helping Australians to pass on their wealth to their kids, rather than passing on nothing because they’re renting for the rest of their life,” Mr Clare said.
