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After months of delays and uncertainty, the Labor government’s shared equity scheme has successfully passed through Parliament.
Following the Greens’ concession to wave through the Albanese government’s housing bills, the Help to Buy bill successfully passed through Parliament on Wednesday (27 November).
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While the Liberals and Nationals voted against the bill, the Green vote meant the package had enough supporters to pass through Senate on Tuesday (26 November) and was voted through the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
This decision allows the Labor Party’s Help to Buy Policy – comprising the Help to Buy Bill 2023 (no. 2) and the Help to Buy (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2023 (no. 2) – to proceed, enabling the federal government to implement a shared equity home buying scheme aimed at first home buyers.
Taking to social media platform X, Housing Minister Clare O’Neil MP said: “The Albanese Government’s Help to Buy scheme has passed parliament. Labor holds the simple belief that ordinary Australians should own their own home, and today that got a little easier. While people are still doing it very tough, today is a good day for homeownership.
"Thousands of Australians – educators, carers, cleaners, nurses – who have been locked out of the housing market, will have a shot at owning their own home. This scheme will make it easier for people on low and middle incomes to buy a home of their own with a smaller mortgage and smaller deposit."
The Labor Party’s other flagship housing policy, the Build to Rent Bill – comprising the Treasury Laws Amendment (Build to Rent) Bill 2024 and the Capital Works (Build to Rent Misuse Tax) Bill 2024 – also passed and aims to change the tax setting to incentivise foreign investment in the build-to-rent (BTR) sector while imposing stricter penalties when tax concessions are improperly claimed due to BTR development ineligibility.
Commenting on the anticipated passage of both bills, the Property Council of Australia CEO Mike Zorbas said the Help to Buy scheme is another option to help those struggling to get on the property ladder.
“We need to ensure that home loans are not just for the wealthy, and that we are giving first homebuyers a realistic chance at accessing credit for housing,” Zorbas said.
“Removing blockers to home ownership is important and one of the biggest challenges, alongside access to finance, is saving up for a home deposit. Schemes like this must be targeted directly to those who need them most, and this initiative will hopefully help 40,000 low- and middle-income Australians into home ownership.
“The next step, the most important step in making housing more affordable, is boosting the supply of new homes across Australia."
He added: “Unlocking state planning systems and setting taxation levels to create more at-market, more affordable housing, more rentals, more retirement villages and more student accommodation must be a national effort.
“That is where the government’s welcome 1.2 million home target, highlighting which states and territories are doing their fair share of new home building, is so important.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the Federal Parliament on measures to boost housing supply and affordability, including vital build-to-rent communities,” he said.
[Related: Greens to wave through Labor housing bills]
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