The federal government released its 2026/27 budget plan last night, changing the existing tax reforms to support young people through buying their first home.
The plan includes a new ‘Help to Buy Scheme,’ which has reduced the deposit price to a low of 2% for first home buyers.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he intends to level the playing field to make housing more accessible for young people.
“I don’t want to see a divided Australia which is divided into Australians who own homes – some multiple homes- and people who simply will never be able to achieve the dream and make it a reality of having a roof over your head,” he said.
The initiative has aimed at changing reforms to capital gains taxes and negative gearing in order to shift from property investment to home buyers.
Property investor Zoe Emanuel, has said the tax incentive has made property investment less attractive for future investors.
“People won’t want to be investing as much as they used to, which will take a lot of the heat out of the market and allow for people who want to buy a home a better opportunity,” she said.
“If you’re a young person wanting to buy property, it’s an expensive way of investing your money now because you don’t get any money back from tax anymore.”
According to recent data from Westpac, more than one in three Gen Z Australian’s plan to buy their first home in the next five years despite the average age being 35 years old.
UOW students Elke Black and Christian Sullivan are hopeful the budget will help them buy their first home.
“It’s all quite confusing but it’s giving me hope that I’m going to be able to afford a home,” Mr Sullivan said.
“I was hoping to get into property investment but that’s all going to change now and it’s more important that we have homes we can live in rather than make money off.”
The initiative is set to make serious changes to the accessibility of housing, encouraging shifts from property investment to home buying around Australia.
