- First Home Owner Grant program has cost $592M
- $450M spent concessions and exemptions
- Regional Victoria in particular has benefitted from the program
The Victorian Government has announced through its Homes for Victorians package, first home buyers have been spared $3 billion worth of stamp duty.
In particular, a new milestone was recently reached with 100,000 first home buyers receiving the stamp duty discount since the Homes for Victorians scheme was introduced in July 2017.
45,858 Victorians have benefitted from the First Home Owner Grant totalling $592,810,000.
“We know how important it is to help Victorians into the property market, turning the hope of owning a property into a reality.”
“We’ve saved Victorians nearly $3 billion and helped more Victorians into safe, comfortable and secure homes through our record investment in housing.”
Tim Pallas, Treasurer
According to the Victorian Government, Casey, Wyndham and Hume were the most popular municipalities for the scheme.
The package has also abolished stamp duty for first buyer purchases under $600,000 with concessions continuing until the $750,000 mark.
Despite only representing about a fifth of the total Victorian population, 30% of these First Home Owner Grants were for properties in regional Victoria. Most likely, this is caused by properties in regional Victoria being significantly cheaper than those in Melbourne, therefore, more likely to be eligible for such benefits.
Since July 2017, $450 million worth of first home buyer concessions and exemptions have been given to first home buyers across 38,538 regional properties. 28% of all concession and exemptions recipients have also been regional buyers.
The last Victorian Budget also introduced a stamp duty waiver of up to 50% of residential properties with a dutiable value of $1 million or less, providing contracts are signed before 1 July 2021. This includes first home buyers who may not be eligible for other entitlements.
Another part of the program is a $500 million Victorian Homebuyer Fund – a shared equity scheme the Government says will accelerate Victorians into homeownership.
The news comes as Victoria is currently undergoing its Big Housing Build project to increase public housing stock, however, there are warnings that despite spending $5 billion on the scheme, not enough houses will be built.
