Labor’s housing deposit scheme will only fuel the housing crisis   
2025-09-17
greens.org.au
Labor’s home guarantee scheme won’t ease the housing crisis. It will pour fuel on the fire. The experts are clear: it won’t work for single and low-income first home buyers. Labor needs to stop tinkering in ways that make the housing crisis worse, and do things that actually work.

From October, under the scheme, borrowing limits will be increased and income caps lifted, which Treasury's own modelling says will cause house prices to rise.

The Greens say the scheme, while out of reach for many, will leave more people in higher levels of debt and drive up property prices, further fueling the housing crisis.

Lines attributable to Greens housing spokesperson Senator Barbara Pocock:

“It's reckless for the government to encourage first home buyers to spend more than they can realistically afford - repayments of over $1,000 a week are just not doable for most.

“Borrowing 95% of a mortgage when homes are eight times the average household income are a recipe for financial stress, not stability.

“This isn’t help — it’s hype. Even Treasury’s own numbers say it’ll push prices up. First-home buyers will be left paying more.

“Without additional housing supply, without addressing the root causes of our housing crisis, this scheme will just hike property prices. This will lock out even more first home buyers, especially single and low income earners, like teachers and nurses, unable to live close to where they work.

“This scheme is just smoke and mirrors — all it does is supercharge house prices and dump even more debt onto first-home buyers. It does nothing to tackle intergenerational housing inequality in Australia and it does nothing for tackling our housing crisis.

“Experts agree these demand-side schemes drive prices up, with house prices forecast to increase by 9 percent next year. We need real change. That means cutting back tax perks for rich investors and building affordable homes where people live and work.

"Australia's housing system is rigged for the wealthy. It is working well for them, but it is failing everyone else. Negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts let cashed-up investors outbid everyday Australians — and young people, single people, low income workers are the ones paying the price.

“This government has an opportunity to fix the housing crisis — but if they keep dodging real reform, they’ll lock a whole generation out of ever owning a home.”

Why has it taken this long for the Greens to figure this out?

Everyone was saying this 5% deposit crap from labor was crap from day 1.

Average house price in Sydney over $1.5 million

A couple would need a combined income over $300K a year to qualify for loan.

Repayments would be over $9K a month for 30 years.

If you can't see where the problem is there is no cure for being stupid.

https://www.news.com.au/national/insulting-barefoot-investor-unleashes-as-albo-d...

“ Mr Pape, author of perennial bestseller The Barefoot Investor, warned the policy risked first home buyers taking on 95 per cent mortgages and becoming “postcode povvos” vulnerable to interest rate hikes.

“It’s dressed up as a helping hand, but it’s really just a shove into bigger debt,” he said. “Instead of making homes more affordable, it will push prices higher and encourage first home buyers to borrow more and save less. That’s subprime lending, Australian-style.”



“ In response to critics, Housing Minister Clare O’Neil has repeatedly said the scheme’s effect on house prices will be mild, based on a Treasury forecast.

“Treasury advice indicates the impact on house prices will be very minor - around 0.5 per cent over six years,” Ms O’Neil told news.com.au.

Mr Pape wasn’t buying it, however, insisting that the “Treasury’s forecasts are almost always wrong”.



While this may be well intentioned it’s not going to help.
Fail  Albo, Fail