A state policy on housing affordability will be announced in the "very near future", says new Planning Minister Anthony Roberts, who has given a robust defence of the strength of Sydney's housing market and the need for those who do not own property to get their foot in the door.
"This is about fairness, and this is about enabling people to get into the Sydney housing market," said Mr Roberts, speaking at the launch of a new apartment development at Olympic Park.
More World News Videos
- Video duration
- 03:04
'Same problems as London': Morrison ...
'Same problems as London': Morrison doubles down on negative gearing
High property prices in the UK show that Australia's housing affordability crisis is not related to negative gearing, Treasurer Scott Morrison told business leaders in Marylebone, in the UK.
Up Next
Pope 'better to be atheist than hypocritical Catholic'
- Video duration
- 01:05
- Video duration
- 01:05
Pope 'better to be atheist than ...
Pope 'better to be atheist than hypocritical Catholic'
Pope Francis criticises 'double life' led by some members of his own church.
Up Next
Kenya's Ghetto Classics Orchestra
- Video duration
- 01:07
- Video duration
- 01:07
Kenya's Ghetto Classics Orchestra
Kenya's Ghetto Classics Orchestra
Every Sunday, the Ghetto Classics Orchestra plays in Korogocho, a crowded Nairobi slum. For a few hours, dozens of children leave their difficult world behind and become one with the music.
Up Next
Trump vows military build-up
- Video duration
- 01:23
- Video duration
- 01:23
Trump vows military build-up
Trump vows military build-up
US President Donald Trump said he would make a massive budget request for one of the 'greatest military buildups in American history' in a feisty, campaign-style speech at CPAC on Friday.
Up Next
Like Brexit, Trump will become 'more popular': Farage
- Video duration
- 01:20
- Video duration
- 01:20
Like Brexit, Trump will become 'more ...
Like Brexit, Trump will become 'more popular': Farage
'Just as Brexit becomes more popular by the day, President Trump will become more popular in America by the day,' says leading Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage who spoke at CPAC of a 'great global revolution' on Friday.
Up Next
Caitlyn Jenner's message to Trump
- Video duration
- 00:47
- Video duration
- 00:47
Caitlyn Jenner's message to Trump
Caitlyn Jenner's message to Trump
Olympic gold medalist and transgender activist Caitlyn Jenner appeals to US President Donald Trump on transgender rights on Thursday.
Up Next
Britain's first spaceport - in Cornwall?
- Video duration
- 01:21
- Video duration
- 01:21
Britain's first spaceport - in Cornwall?
Britain's first spaceport - in Cornwall?
Europe correspondent Nick Miller visits Cornwall Airport in Newquay which hopes to become Britainâs first spaceport in just three yearsâ time.
Up Next
Asia's trawler fishing wars reach Australia
- Video duration
- 00:58
- Video duration
- 00:58
Asia's trawler fishing wars reach ...
Asia's trawler fishing wars reach Australia
Drone footage showing hundreds of dead sharks fished by Chinese company Pingtan Marine Enterprise off the coast of East Timor is the latest example of a modern war on the high seas that is fast intruding into Australia's neighbourhood.
'Same problems as London': Morrison doubles down on negative gearing
High property prices in the UK show that Australia's housing affordability crisis is not related to negative gearing, Treasurer Scott Morrison told business leaders in Marylebone, in the UK.
"Once you are in the Sydney housing market you are pretty well set then for the rest of your life," said Mr Roberts.
Mr Roberts assumed the Planning and Housing portfolios in a cabinet reshuffle triggered by Gladys Berejiklian's ascension to the premiership.
Related Content
Ms Berejiklian and Mr Roberts have declared housing affordability the "number one" priority for the government, but have not as yet detailed new measures to tackle the issue.
Speaking at Olympic Park, where Mirvac will build 690 new apartments, Mr Roberts praised the developer's commitment to offer 60 of those units first to first home buyers.
First home buyers purchasing those units will also be able to do so with an initial 5 per cent deposit, as opposed to the standard 10 per cent.
"This is the beginning, this is the start," Mr Roberts said.
"I envisage, in the future, more and more companies answering the call and opening up their residence for sale to first home buyers," he said.
"This government is putting together a housing affordability policy and we will be announcing that in the very near future."
Pressed for details about what that policy would be, Mr Roberts said lowering stamp duty was "an issue that is certainly, amongst everything else, being looked at".
But he rejected the call made by his predecessor in the planning portfolio, Rob Stokes, for the federal government to reform negative gearing.
"Sydney is an international city," he said.
"And as such we are paying international prices for homes. Negative gearing, a massive change like that across the Commonwealth is going to affect states where, quite frankly, housing affordability is not a problem."
Another mooted policy to address a shortage of affordable rental properties in Sydney is to require developers to build a proportion of homes that can be rented below market rates to key workers and other groups.
The Greater Sydney Commission, the planning agency set up under Mr Stokes, has said between 5 to 10 per cent of the increased value of rezoned land should be set aside for affordable housing.
At Olympic Park, where the government has an ambition for another 10,000 homes to be built over the next decade, only 3 per cent are slated to be affordable properties rented below market rates.
"That's one of the things we are looking at," Mr Roberts said.
But the minister also stressed that he was focused on providing ways to allow people to enter the property market as buyers, so they could benefit from higher prices.
"We are not dealing with a bubble in the Sydney market," he said. "There is no bubble here. There might be a slowing down of growth. But the way the population is moving, and the population trending, which is upwards, you will find house prices will continue to rise.
"What I want to do is to get people into the market place and then they can be beneficiaries of the increase in the value of their property."
Under Mirvac's "Right Start" package for its Olympic Park development, up to 60 apartments priced from $575,000 to $749,000 will first be offered to home buyers who qualify for first home owner concessions.
First home buyers will also be able to pay a 5 per cent deposit on exchange, before paying the remaining 5 per cent deposit on settlement about two years later.
70 comments
New User? Sign up