The Victorian Greens have unveiled the details of their bold plan to bring down the cost of buying a home.
The Greens are proposing to tax ultra-wealthy property investors who own more than $5 million worth of residential investment properties, and use it to abolish stamp duty on homes for people to live in.
The Greens plan comes ahead of this year’s state election where young people locked out of home ownership are looking for bold policies.
The Greens policy helps rebalance the scales of a broken housing system that is set up to funnel profits to banks and wealthy investors instead of helping people who need somewhere affordable to live.
Stamp duty has been heavily criticised by economists as a highly ineffective tax that puts a huge upfront cost on people, making it harder to buy, move or downsize.
The Greens are proposing a system that’s fairer, simpler and built for people, not profits. It starts by abolishing stamp duty on the average home, aimed at eventually phasing it out altogether.
The Greens entire ‘Home You Can Afford’ plan:
Cut stamp duty for owner occupiers: abolishing stamp duty for homes up to $1.1 million, and reduced stamp duty on a sliding scale up to $1.6 million.
Introduce an ‘ultra-wealth’ tax to pay for it: increase land tax to 5.3% for property investors that own more than $5 million in residential investment properties, raising $6.4 billion over the decade.
Stop the demolition and build more public housing: more than double the number of public homes – building over 88,000 public homes, maintaining and upgrading existing public housing with an initial investment of $4 billion.
Cap rents: limiting how much rents can be increased in any one year capped at wage growth (or inflation, whichever is lower).
Victorian Greens housing spokesperson, Gabrielle de Vietri:
“People are working hard and still can’t afford a home. We want to bring down the cost of buying a home by cutting stamp duty and taxing ultra wealthy property investors to pay for it.
“If you can afford $5 million worth of investment properties, we think you can pay a little bit more to make housing more affordable for everyone else.
“If young people and renters are ever going to be able to afford a home, we need to bring down the cost of buying a home.
“Stamp duty is a huge barrier for people buying their first home, moving or downsizing. You shouldn’t be slapped with a massive tax bill from the government before you even get your keys.”