Higher Value Thresholds and Longer Residency Requirements for First Home Buyers
First Home Buyer Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
Legislative Assembly
Legislative Council
Assent
Introduced by: The Hon Paul Scully MP (ALP); The Hon Penny Sharpe MLC (ALP)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
Damien Tudehope LIB
“The Opposition opposes the First Home Buyer Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. The bill represents a retrograde step in our taxation system and, even worse, represents an increase in the barriers to entry for first home buyers.”
Abigail Boyd GRN
“On behalf of The Greens, I contribute to debate on the First Home Buyer Legislation Amendment Bill 2023.”
Chris Rath LIB
“I oppose the First Home Buyer Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. The starting point in debate on the bill should be to look at the problem we are trying to fix. Every member knows that housing affordability is a huge problem. It has often been debated in the House and it was certainly a key issue during the State election. The statistics are quite worrying.”
Robert Borsak SFFP
“I contribute to debate on the First Home Buyer Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. I have followed with great interest the ongoing debate on the previous Government’s forever tax. I agree with the new Government that it is a forever tax. The then Treasurer who became the Premier tried to build a nice little tax earner that would evolve over time into a long-term land tax on the residential home.”
Emma Hurst AJP
“I speak on behalf of the Animal Justice Party on the First Home Buyer Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. The bill makes a number of significant changes to stamp duty and land tax for first home buyers.”
Scott Farlow LIB
“I speak in debate on the First Home Buyer Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. It is an indictment on the new Labor Government that one of its first legislative actions in this place is to make life harder for first home buyers across the State and to tie more first home buyers into paying the most mundane of taxes—stamp duty. The Hon.”
Susan Carter LIB
“I contribute to debate on the First Home Buyer Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. Back to the Future was a great 1980s film franchise, but it is a very bad basis for revenue policy. The bill should be opposed because it is a backwards step. It represents a running away from innovation and fails to recognise that stamp duty is a real barrier to home ownership. The bill is authoritarian in tone.”
Jacqui Munro LIB
“I contribute to debate on the First Home Buyer Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. I have to hope that the Government’s repeal of the good and popular First Home Buyer Choice scheme is a political stunt, because it is such an objectively bad policy position that a responsible government could never endorse it. Unfortunately, it is no benign political stunt.”
Natalie Ward LIB
“I oppose the repeal of First Home Buyer Choice under the First Home Buyer Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. It is a very sad day in this place. We are denying choice to people who want to participate in the economy, who want to build the great Australian dream, who want security and safety, and who want to be able to choose their future and determine where and when they buy a home.”
Aileen MacDonald LIB
“In the short time that New South Wales residents have had the wonderful choice about the way in which they purchase their home, many have found the ability of choosing a small annual land tax over stamp duty to be the best option for them. Home buyers were given a choice that suited their lifestyle and circumstances.”
“I oppose the First Home Buyers Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. Eliminating the Liberal-Nationals First Home Buyer Choice is a backwards step for the State. The Labor Government’s first home buyers bill will do nothing to assist housing challenges facing first home buyers in New South Wales.”
Wes Fang NAT
“I make a brief contribution to debate on the First Home Buyer Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. I start by saying that we do not need to be here, because the Government’s position has come out of politics, not policy. Government members opposed the previous Liberal-Nationals policy, not from a policy position but rather just as something to oppose. Today our hand is being forced.”
Daniel Mookhey ALP
“Damien Tudehope; Ms Abigail Boyd; the Hon. Chris Rath; the Hon. Scott Farlow; the Hon. Robert Borsak; the Hon. Emma Hurst; the Hon. Jacqui Munro; the Hon. Natalie Ward; the Hon. Aileen MacDonald; the Hon. Natasha Maclaren-Jones; and the Hon. Wes Fang.”
News articles and press releases
First Home Buyer Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
Mr PAUL SCULLY, Minister for Planning and Public Spaces — 2023-05-23
The bill will expand support for first home buyers by increasing the thresholds that apply under the First Home Buyer Assistance Scheme from 1 July 2023. The first home buyer stamp duty exemption threshold for the purchase of a dwelling will increase from $650,000 to $800,000. No stamp duty will be paid by first home buyers purchasing a home for up to $800,000. Currently, a first home buyer purchasing a home for $800,000 needs to pay stamp duty of $31,090 or opt in to the former Government’s land tax, and pay an annual bill starting at around $1,500 and continue paying for as long as they own the property. The stamp duty concession threshold will increase from $800,000 to $1 million.