What haters have wrong about Albo’s housing scheme

Anthony Albanese’s housing schemes are getting Aussies into their dream homes, so maybe it’s time all the critics to put a sock in it.

OPINION

The political killjoys have had a field day ever since the national cabinet signed on to the Labor government’s target of delivering 1.2 million new homes over the next five years starting from July.

Sure it was an ambitious target, but new housing, and the jobs and expenditure that flow, will be crucial in helping the economy stay out of recession.

The aim is to build 240,000 homes every year, however it’s currently running at 170,000, a recent PropTrack report noted.

It is just silly for the Opposition housing spokesman Michael Sukkar to say: “The Prime Minister must now wave the white flag.”

The Home Guarantee Scheme has delivered more than 150,000 homes under the Morrison and Albanese Governments. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

After all, every new home is life-changing and more than 150,000 Australians have bought or built their own home during the past four years, with support from the Home Guarantee Scheme (HGS). Two years were under the Morrison government and two under the Albanese government.

Of those, around 100,000 have been in the capital cities and 50,000 in regional Australia.

Key workers have benefited including 8800 teachers, 7200 nurses and 1700 emergency service workers. Some 55 per cent were under 30 and evenly divided between men and women.

Since its July 2023 expansion, 500 siblings and 180 friends have jointly bought a home, with the scheme providing a pathway for some to overcoming the never-ending affordability crisis.

In the past year there has also been a shift towards first homebuyer participation with 33 per cent of first-timers using the scheme, up from the 10 per cent in the first full year of operation.

Back in 2020, the first participant in the scheme was a teacher whose first home purchase was in regional NSW. The 150,000th participant was a single mother in Victoria who works in nursing

Housing Australia works with 33 lenders and their broker networks with Westpac backing recent recipients, Jayden and Lynnsey, a young couple from the Illawarra. Jayden, 25, works as an asphalt machine operator, and Lynnsey, 23, is a workforce development and reporting officer at a large construction firm.

The Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee under the HGS allowed them to purchase their first home after they had spent a year househunting.

The Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee enabled Jayden and Lynnsey to buy their first home.

The couple were able to get into and renovate their home much sooner than they would have if they had to save a 20 per cent deposit.

“It makes us proud and excited for the future,” Jayden said.

“We were looking for a place that represented both of us,” Lynnsey added.

“We couldn’t wait to combine our possessions together in a home where we could create new traditions and routines, with family and friends.”

It is this simple wish of Jayden and Lynnsey’s that illustrates why all three tiers of government need to more arduously address the many complex issues of housing.

Originally published as What haters have wrong about Albo’s housing scheme