HELPING FIRST HOME BUYERS BY PICKING UP THE STAMP DUTY FEE
The NSW Government is doing its best to help people buy their first home, by taking care of the stamp duty fee for them. Stamp duty would normally cost about $25,000 on a house being purchased for $650,000. The rate charged for stamp duty does change, depending on how much money is being spent, but in simple terms it is generally around 2-4%.
Since 1 July, 2023, the new NSW Government introduced the First Home Buyers Assistance (FHBA) Program that helps first time home buyers by making sure that they pay zero stamp duty on a house valued up to $800,000.
This generous scheme is helping local people right here in our community. In the Cessnock LGA 421 first time home buyers benefitted by, on average, $19,100.
In the Lake Macquarie LGA 774 new home owners benefitted by an average of $22,537.
In the Singleton LGA 98 new home owners benefitted by an average of $19,439.
The NSW Government is determined to help the dream of owning a home become a reality.
HELPING RENTERS FEEL MORE SECURE IN THEIR HOME
If we wind the clock back about 50 years the idea of renting might have been seen as a short term solution while getting ready to buy a home. But in 2024, we know that up to 30% of families will rent over the long term because buying a home might always be out of reach.
This figure of 30% makes the rules of renting far more important than ever before.
A renter, like a home owner, is building a life and looking for certainty and identity in the place that they live. Renters pay bills, mow lawns, have friends over, cook meals and decorate, just like a home owner. Everyone, whether they rent or own, is in effect building a home.
But in recent times, with almost every available house-to-rent already full, renters have been more exposed to an uncertain future then ever before.
There is no doubt that 95% or more of investors, that own rental properties, want to see their property looked after, a fair rent charged and good reliable tenants in place.
The NSW Government will soon introduce new legislation to ensure that a tenant cannot be kicked out of a property for no reason – this is often called a “no grounds eviction”, in a bid to hopefully make tenants feel like their home is a more secure home.
For 95% of investors this will change almost nothing about your relationship with the person renting from you. For the 5% of investors, that want to suddenly hike up rents, or that refuse to do repairs and maintenance on their properties and kick the tenant out instead, their world will change.
The NSW Government wants the life of renters to be fairer. This doesn’t mean that a renter cannot be kicked out for failing to pay the rent, or for damaging the property or for causing social disruption during their tenancy. But it does mean that if a renter is doing the right thing then the investor will need an honest and decent reason to move them on. This is a fairer model.