Foreign investors to be banned from buying existing homes

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Federal Government has announced it will ban foreign investors from buying existing homes for two years, in an attempt to boost housing supply for locals.

Transcript

00:00This is a two-year ban on foreign buyers from being able to purchase existing homes here

00:08in Australia.

00:09It will take effect from the 1st of April and included in that ban will also be foreign

00:14owned companies and temporary residents.

00:17Now making the announcement of this ban this morning, Housing Minister Claire O'Neill said

00:22that in the 2022-23 financial year, foreign buyers purchased around 1,800 existing homes.

00:30So she says this should free up homes in the small thousands for local residents.

00:36We've got about 1,800, a bit over 1,800 properties between 2022 and 2023 that were bought by

00:44foreign buyers.

00:45Over a two-year period, we're going to free up effectively twice that for Australians

00:50to get into home ownership.

00:51Now Claire O'Neill admits this isn't a silver bullet by any means, but it's part of a suite

00:56of measures the federal government is putting forward to try and fix the housing crisis

01:02in Australia.

01:03Now we know the coalition has previously announced the same policy, Peter Dutton, the opposition

01:08leader, did so during his budget reply speech last year.

01:12So there is now agreement on this policy around banning foreign buyers from purchasing existing

01:18homes here in Australia.

01:19As both parties know, housing will continue to be a major issue heading into the federal

01:25election.

01:26It's obviously something on the minds of many Australians right around the country.

01:30But both parties do have different policies in terms of housing outside of this ban.

01:36We know that Labor is focused on unlocking more houses and building more houses through

01:42providing payments to the states and territories to boost supply.

01:47Whereas on the coalition side, they want first home buyers to be able to access their

01:52superannuation to be able to get into the housing market.

01:55And we know too that they're focused on building infrastructure, so things like sewerage in

02:00outer suburban areas, so those areas can become liveable to be able to build homes.

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