Support clears the way for the Help to Buy and Build to Rent schemes
The government’s Help to Buy and Build to Rent housing bills are set to pass the Senate, following the Greens’ decision to support the legislation after months of negotiation.
The move marks a significant win for the Albanese government, clearing the way for two key components of its housing agenda to become law.
The Help to Buy scheme will enable up to 40,000 first-home buyers to co-purchase properties with the government, while the Build to Rent initiative offers tax incentives to developers of long-term rental apartments. With the Greens now on board, the bills have sufficient support to pass without major amendments.
Greens leader Adam Bandt (pictured above left) acknowledged the party’s disappointment that the government did not meet its broader demands but said the Greens would not obstruct the bills further.
“We will wave through Labor’s housing bills … but this issue is not going away,” Bandt was quoted as saying in an ABC News report.
#BREAKING: The Greens will vote for Labor's Help to Buy housing bill, ending a lengthy stand-off over one of the government's signature housing election commitments. https://t.co/t3sBBVv1Ps
— ABC News (@abcnews) November 25, 2024
Still, housing minister Clare O’Neil (pictured above right) criticised the Greens for delaying the legislation, calling it “costly” and accusing them of “playing politics on housing for two-and-a-half years.”
“The bills will now pass in exactly the form in which they were proposed … after a lengthy delay,” she said. “The Greens need to be accountable for that.”
The Greens, however, argued that the delay was partly due to the government’s inaction, noting that the bills were not introduced for debate in the Senate until September. A Greens spokesperson suggested the government could implement the Help to Buy scheme more rapidly by allocating its 40,000 places over three years instead of four.
The Greens had pushed for a range of housing reforms, including changes to negative gearing, rent caps, and additional funding for social housing. In recent weeks, the party narrowed its focus to expanding the number of projects funded by Labor’s social housing investment fund, but the government rejected the proposal.
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