Qld opposition would raise FHB stamp duty threshold

David Crisafulli MP, the Leader of the Queensland Opposition and member of the Liberal National Party (LNP), has revealed that the LNP is committing to raise the stamp duty concession threshold for first home buyers to better reflect current house prices.

In a media briefing on Monday (29 January), Mr Crisafulli flagged that the “dream of home ownership” was “increasingly stretching out of reach of Queenslanders” given the rising cost of property.

The Leader of the Opposition noted that Queensland had the lowest percentage of home ownership in the country, at 64 per cent.

As such, he said the LNP would look to raise the stamp duty concession threshold for first home buyers from its current level of $500,000 to make home ownership more achievable.

However, Mr Crisafulli did not state what the new threshold would be, instead suggesting that this would be arrived at following a period of consultation.

He said: “Today I can announce that the LNP, in government, would lift the threshold for stamp duty concessions for first home buyers. Queensland has the lowest percentage of home ownership in the country at 64 per cent. It’s our vision to make us go from last place to first within the decade…

“That threshold is, in our mind, one of the greatest challenges preventing young people from saving up their deposit to get them in the market.”

The Opposition Leader flagged that David Janetzki MP, Queensland’s shadow minister for home ownership, would “spend the next few months doing another round of consultation with industry and young Queenslanders to determine what that threshold should be”.

“But make no mistake, it cannot stay at $500,000,” Mr Crisafulli said.

The news has been welcomed by the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ), whose chief executive Antonia Mercorella would like to see the concessional threshold for first home buyers increase to at least $750,000 to reflect current-day property prices.

“The average cost of an entry-level property has rapidly outpaced the current threshold of the first home buyer’s concession being $500,000 and has not been reviewed since 2008,” Ms Mercorella said.

“Comparing the threshold to the annual median house price for Greater Brisbane of $760,500, and for Brisbane LGA of $1 million [according to CoreLogic figures] it raises the question of the effectiveness of a first home buyer stamp duty concession when the ability to utilise it is severely limited.

“While we are yet to see any appetite from the State Government to tackle the inefficient and regressive tax that is stamp duty, a sensible interim measure would be to lift the concessional threshold for first home buyers to a figure of at least $750,000.

“With decade low numbers of first home buyers accessing the concession, it would be a sensible starting point for the suite of stamp duty reforms that the REIQ have been strenuously advocating for over many years.”

According to the REIQ CEO, stamp duty currently adds “tens of thousands to the overall cost of buying a new home, which stifles housing mobility”.

“It is an inherently lazy tax that rewards the State Government coffers while punishing those starting their home ownership journey,” Ms Mercorella said.

“Over the past 10 years, we have seen stamp duty on property transfers nearly triple – however there has been no commensurate investment in the provision of infrastructure for new housing or social housing.

“The Queensland Government recently announced its intent to help more Queenslanders buy their first home, and one of the biggest obstacles to home ownership is stamp duty, so reforming stamp duty would be a powerful move towards that goal.”

Queenslanders will go to the polls for the 2024 local government elections on 16 March 2024 with the Queensland state election scheduled to be held on 26 October 2024.

We’re determined to make the dream of home ownership a reality for more Queenslanders.

That’s why an @LNPQLD Government will lift the stamp duty threshold for first home buyers. pic.twitter.com/aDG0rk4kEW

— David Crisafulli (@DavidCrisafulli) January 29, 2024

[Related: REIQ questions Qld government’s FHB grant boost]