SHARED EQUITY HOME BUYER HELPER: RETHINK REQUIRED

I am supportive of measures to improve housing affordability. As a former emergency physician, I have seen the struggles and sacrifices that our health service goes through on a daily basis. I have tremendous respect and admiration for our health service. 

When the Government announced the Shared Equity Home Buyer Helper both pleased and excited. This scheme allows for a mortgage for as low as a 2% deposit with the Government having a stake in your property. 

This scheme is open to early childcare operators, nurses and midwives, paramedics, police officers and teachers. The scheme is also targeted at assisting victims and survivors of domestic violence. I feel this is a deeply impactful and positive inclusion that will change the lives of victims and survivors of domestic violence. If the Coalition is re-elected, victims and survivors of domestic violence will also be treated as first home buyers under the First Homer Buyer Choice and First Home Buyer Assistance schemes.

However, such positive inclusions should not be dependent on the mercy of the ballot box, they should be part of these reforms today. 

The scheme is also open to single parents and those over the age of 50. In NSW there is a secure housing crisis impacting women over the age of 55, a number of them have difficulty securing long term rental properties.  I was really pleased to see the inclusion of those two groups to the scheme. 

However, if a single earns more than 90k per annum or a couple earns more than 120k per annum they are ineligible for this scheme. 

Gerard Hayes Secretary of the Health Service Union said today "Given the workforce shortages, everyone is working overtime. If someone was on $80 000, $10 000 in overtime is going to come pretty quickly". 

I am also disappointed to see that our firefighters and NSW SES are not included, surely they should also be offered the opportunity to be a part of this scheme?

The current eligibility criteria for the Shared Equity Home Buyer Helper is ineligible for many of those who it proclaims to be for. 

Ultimately the main issue in our state is as it always has been, supply of housing. We need to free up more land and build more houses. 

I call upon the State Government to revisit the eligibility criteria by raising the income cap, including firefighters and NSW SES and release more land so that our ongoing supply issues are resolved.