Home stretch
Albanese and Dutton are both hoping their big-ticket housing policies will win them votes on 3 May. But there's doubt that either plan will improve housing affordability in the long term.
This unusual federal election campaign — later than expected and repeatedly interrupted by seismic events offshore — has finally moved on to more familiar ground. The major parties are now locked in a race to convince voters they are better placed to deal with bread and butter issues like housing affordability by giving first-home buyers a leg up.
Our chief political correspondent Anthony Galloway last week foreshadowed the Coalition’s long awaited housing plan, reporting on 11 April that “a policy has been discussed that would allow a certain cohort of Australians to negatively gear their own homes — that is, deduct mortgage interest from their taxable income”.
On Sunday, that information proved correct, with Peter Dutton unveiling a plan to allow first-home buyers to claim mortgage interest as a tax deduction. This centrepiece promise was announced alongside $5 billion to fund infrastructure and help unlock supply.
At the same time, Anthony Albanese pledged $10 billion for the construction of 100,000 new homes reserved for first home buyers. The prime minister also revealed the government would act as guarantor for first timers to buy a home with a 5% downpayment.
