Stamp duty Victoria: making housing more affordable for first-time buyers
From July 2017 , stamp duty Victoria will be abolished for first home buyers purchasing a property valued below $600,000. Discounts will also be available for property purchases between $600,000 and $750,000 on a sliding scale, regardless of whether they are new or established homes.
Treasurer Tim Pallas said the stamp duty Victoria changes would help about 25,000 Victorians purchase their first home. “We promised we would tackle housing affordability and that’s exactly what we are doing,” he said. “It’s a really simple, common sense way in which we can support more young couples into the housing market,” the Premier Daniel Andrews said.
Changes to the First Home Owner Grant
It was also announced that it intends to increase the First Home Owner Grant (FHOG) from $10,000 to $20,000 for new homes built in regional Victoria and valued up to $750,000.
Eligible first-home buyers of new homes in metropolitan Melbourne will continue to receive the $10,000 FHOG.
Changes to the off-the-plan concession
It was also announced that the off-the-plan concession is being retargeted and will now only apply to buyers who occupy the property as their principal place of residence (PPR). The off-the-plan stamp duty Victoria concessions on investment properties will be abolished.
Essentially, the off-the-plan concession will only be relevant to determining “dutiable value” for the purpose of the PPR duty concession, the new first-home buyer duty exemption or the new first-home buyer duty phase-in concession.
New measures for vacant land
As part of a number of changes to make housing more affordable, the Victoria Government will also introduce a new tax levied at 1 per cent on vacant residential property to target empty properties in Melbourne’s inner and middle suburbs. Owners will be encouraged to make vacant properties eligible for purchase or rent. There will be exemptions if it is a holiday house, a deceased estate or if the owner is overseas.
“This will send a really strong message to people that if you are effectively banking an empty property and denying that to the market and contributing to the lack of supply, then there’s something you can do about it,” Premier Daniel Andrews said. “You can simply pay the tax or you might go see a real estate agent.”
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