Dominic Perrottet and wife Helen speak ahead of NSW election

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has opened up about how he and his wife bought their first home, sympathising with the struggles facing buyers.

Premier Dominic Perrottet has sympathised with young people struggling to break into the housing market, revealing he knows “first-hand” just how tough it can be.

NSW residents will head to the polls today to decide whether Mr Perrottet will continue his premiership, or whether the top spot will go to NSW Labor leader Chris Minns.

Speaking to news.com.au ahead of the election, Mr Perrottet and his wife, Helen, revealed how they managed to buy their first home.

“We were renting this home; we bought it from the owners. So we were very fortunate,” Mr Perrottet said, speaking from their home in Beecroft, northwest Sydney.

The pair were in their early 30s and were both working at the time while also looking after their young children.

“It was a juggle,” Ms Perrottet said.

“I think to get the deposit, we scraped together, we maxed out every credit card we had to try and get the deposit together. It was tricky.”

Premier Dominic Perrottet and his wife Helen ‘maxed out every credit card’ to get a deposit for their first home.

The Premier said he knows the difficulties facing first homebuyers, which is why the Liberal Party was introducing changes to stamp duty, which allows eligible first homebuyers to ditch stamp duty in exchange for a small annual fee.

“I know first-hand how hard it is for young people to be able to save for that deposit,” he said.

“When they’ve got to pay stamp duty as well, by the time they do that, it takes a couple of years and they’re going backwards.

“So we’ve made those changes so that first-time buyers don’t have to do that. They can pay a smaller amount and now they have that choice for life,” he said. “I think it’s going to make a real difference to helping young people get into the property market – and then once they’ve got their first home, to get their next.”

What is the biggest challenge facing NSW?

You would be hard-pressed to find an Aussie who isn’t being impacted by the rising cost of living, with the Premier saying it is undoubtedly one of the biggest challenges facing people in NSW over the next 12 months.

He said, while NSW is in a strong position as a state, there are “economic challenges in front of us”.

In response, he said his party is trying to “help families budgets”, through things like Back to School vouchers, Active Kids vouchers and Creative Kids vouchers, to ensure families can continue to invest in their children.

“We want to help with the cost of sport, the cost of swimming lessons and it’s all there. It’s all available on Service NSW,” Mr Perrottet said.

“That’s the real challenge, I think going forward, and it’s all tied to the challenging economic situation we’re in. But we’ll get through it and we’ve got the plan to do it.”

Mr Perrottet said the cost of living is one of the biggest challenges facing the people of NSW.

Mr Perrottet and his wife have seven children. When asked how they have been impacted by the rising cost of living, the Premier said: “Every family is doing it tough right now.”

He urged anyone who is struggling under the current economic situation to go to the Service NSW website to see what measures are available to help.

“There’s a whole range of measures there, including that $250 off everyone’s energy bill. But in addition, I’d say if you’re really doing it tough, reach out to a financial counsellor,” he said.

“We made an announcement to give extra support, an additional 100 financial counsellors are coming on in NSW.”

Under the Liberal Government’s NSW Energy Bill saver program, households can receive $250 off their energy bills by comparing their current energy deal.

Perrottet reveals most challenging part of the job

While the rising cost of living is front of mind right now, Mr Perrottet said throughout his time as Premier, dealing with the impact of the recent floods has been one of the biggest challenges he has faced.

“That was from the north to the south of the state, from the east to the west, we had so many communities that were impacted,” he said.

“I spent over a month last year in regional communities that had been affected by flooding and that was a real challenge.”

He noted there was still a long journey to go for many of those communities.

Mr Perrottet said it has been difficult to juggle work and family life. Picture: Toby Zerna/Office of NSW Premier

Another great challenge has been trying to juggle his work and family life.

“I think from a personal level, just balancing work and family life in this job is a challenge and a particularly busy time,” he said.

The outcome of today’s election will decide whether Mr Perrottet’s time as NSW Premier will continue or come to an end, with his wife revealing why she thinks people should vote for him.

She told news.com.au that her husband cares for people, has a “conscience” and “gets outcomes”.

But one of her favourite things about him is that “when he is wrong he actually admits it”, which she says is a “hard” thing to do.