- NSW Government will introduce legislation raising the upper limit of stamp duty exemptions for first home buyers.
- First home buyers with a purchase price of $800,000 or less would pay no stamp duty.
- This number was previously $650,000.
- The new legislation will replace the previous government's policy of offering first home buyers the choice to pay an annual land tax instead of stamp duty.
If the plan is implemented, people in NSW buying their first home with a purchase price of $800,000 or less won't need to pay stamp duty, up from $650,000.
Concessions will also be available where the purchase price is between $800,00 and $1,000,000.
The proposed legislation will abolish the land tax choice policy established by the previous Perrottet administration, whereby first home buyers could choose to pay an annual land tax instead of stamp duty.
The current government intends to abolish this option by 1 July, although the nearly 5,000 home owners who have already opted in can continue to pay the land tax until the property is sold.
NSW Premier Chris Minns called the reforms a "fairer and simpler system, to ensure more first home buyers have a chance of owning their first property".
The current First Home Buyer Choice (FHBC) introduced by the previous government meant that those buying properties at the top of the range received a larger proportion of the benefits.
NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey says that the new legislation will address this imbalance and provide more equitable relief.
"This policy will deliver the most help to the first home buyers most at risk of leaving the housing market all together as interest rates go up," Mr Mookhey said.
"Now 5 out of every 6 first home buyers will get help to own the roof over their heads. It will benefit more first home buyers overall and more fairly goes to those who need it most. The new thresholds for stamp duty exemptions and concessions are a simpler and fairer way to help more first home buyers than the property tax, which helped a smaller cohort of first home buyers."
This is what the changes might look like:
| Purchase Price | Current FHB stamp duty | New FHB stamp duty | Savings |
| $700,000 | $10,363 | $0 | $10,363 |
| $750,000 | $20,727 | $0 | $20,727 |
| $800,000 | $31,090 | $0 | $31,090 |
| $850,000 | $33,340 | $10,023 | $23,318 |
| $900,000 | $35,590 | $20,045 | $15,545 |
| $950,000 | $37,840 | $30,068 | $7773 |
| $990,000 | $39,640 | $38,086 | $1555 |
Previous calculations found first home buyers would be better off for 16 years on a $1 million property.
This is below the Sydney median house price, and a saving of around $40,000 in upfront stamp duty.
Before parliament: Liberals intend to contest
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman is adamant the Liberal Party will try to block the proposed reforms and defend the initial First Home Buyer Choice policy.
"[The current policy] is in the best interests of first home buyers and mak[es] it easier for them to get their first home at a time of unprecedented difficulty to do that," Mr Speakman said.
Labor does not have a majority in either the senate or house.
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