LNP pledges to build 1m homes across Queensland as demographer warns against first home buyer grants
A “feeding frenzy” at the bottom of the Far North’s housing market can be eased by bolstering supply as the LNP pitches to future homeowners looking to cross the threshold for the first time.
Cairns
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cairns. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A “feeding frenzy” at the bottom of the Far North’s housing market can be eased by bolstering supply as the LNP pitches to future homeowners looking to cross the threshold for the first time.
But a leading demographer has warned some measures, such as first home buyer grants, will only push already skyrocketing housing prices even higher.
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli unveiled the party’s 20-year housing plan in Redlynch on Thursday which aims to boost the state’s homeowner numbers which are the worst in the country.
“Across Queensland, our homeownership rate is 63.5 per cent but it’s actually lower than that in Cairns,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“The number of Queenslanders in the Far North who have received the first homeowners stamp duty concession has fallen by around 25 per cent.
“We want to give young people hope that they can own their own home.”
If elected in October, the LNP will cut stamp duty for Queenslanders looking to buy or build their first home and lift the threshold on existing houses from $500,000 to $700,000.
But building more homes in the Sunshine State was at the heart of the problem, the Member for Broadwater said.
“The reason why we have a generation of young Queenslanders locked out of the housing market and people sleeping rough who have lost hope of buying their first home is because of a lack of supply,” he said.
“The Far North is not immune to that. When you see rental vacancies so tight, that has created a feeding frenzy at the bottom of the market. We are passionate about turning that around.”
Last week, The Demographics Group co-founder Simon Kuestenmacher said Far North voters shouldn’t be seduced by measures that only price Queenslanders out of the housing market.
“We are still operating in a country where we proactively as a political system make housing more expensive,” Mr Kuestenmacher said.
“We must see the end of stupid things like first home buyer grants. It is an absolutely ludicrous policy. It only drives house prices up.
“Everyone knows this … it’s a near criminal use of public money.”
Under the Securing Our Housing Foundations Plan, the LNP plans to deliver one million homes over the next 20 years with a $2bn infrastructure fund kick-starting new developments
More Coverage
Originally published as LNP pledges to build 1m homes across Queensland as demographer warns against first home buyer grants
‘Never experienced before’: Why the Cowboys NRLW high performance centre will change the game
Cairns will play a critical role in the growth of women’s rugby league with a top administrator confident a new elite training facility can take the game to another level on-and-off the field.
Greens Senator interview upstaged by LNP volunteer
Tempers have flared at a pre-polling booth in Cairns with a Far North LNP powerbroker walking through a TV interview with senator Larissa Waters — then attempting to do so again a second time.