Territory Alliance housing policy a revival of controversial Labor plan during Paul Henderson’s reign
TERRITORY Alliance has proposed a housing scheme policy reminiscent of the plan then chief minister Paul Henderson took to the 2012 election and later scrapped by the CLP under Terry Mills
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TERRITORY Alliance has proposed a housing scheme policy reminiscent of the plan then chief minister Paul Henderson took to the 2012 election and later scrapped by the CLP under Terry Mills.
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But Mr Mills said the real estate market situation now was “completely different” and the scheme, which is designed to cut housing costs for first home buyers through the government taking on 30 per cent of the land purchase cost, was warranted.
Under Territory Alliance’s plan, the government would fund this through a $62.5 million housing equity fund, with private owners able to choose “at any time” to buy out the government’s 30 per cent stake at the market rate of the day.
One part of NT Labor’s scheme, back in the 2012 election, proposed the government take a stake of up to 50 per cent or $200,000 in private dwellings.
The proposal was slammed by economists, while NT Treasury warned it would “place upward pressure on property prices at the lower end of the market”.
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Mr Mills said the NT’s market had now “collapsed” and while he did not support the policy at that stage, it was now time to stimulate real estate.
“My argument (in 2012) was the need to increase space within the market to keep the downward pressure on prices, that didn’t occur,” he said.
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