Help to Buy: Labor promises to ‘open the door of home ownership’ – but does the contentious scheme stack up?

Anthony Albanese’s government says Help to Buy will assist people earning a modest income to buy a home. But opinions are mixed on whether a shared equity scheme is the best way forward.Anthony Albanese’s government says Help to Buy will assist people earning a modest income to buy a home. But opinions are mixed on whether a shared equity scheme is the best way forward.Another key housing fight looms for the Albanese government.

A Labor-chaired parliamentary committee tasked with looking at the bill’s merits concluded in April that the scheme addresses “access and affordability hurdles” of home ownership by reducing the upfront costs along with the long-term mortgage repayments.What do the opposition and crossbench think about it?Part of their criticism centres around the value for money. The scheme will be offered to a maximum of 40,000 participants at a cost of $5.5bn to the federal government.

The Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi said the housing affordability crisis could not be solved by this “unambitious”, which offers a hand to a “lucky few”.“This is a deeply unambitious policy, introduced at a critical point, where homelessness, rental and mortgage stress are skyrocketing,” the dissenting report said.

The Grattan Institute’s economics program director, Brendan Coates, described the scheme as “modest” but a “piece of the puzzle” in solving the housing crisis.

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