Heathcote MP Maryanne Stuart has addressed the Parliament of NSW regarding the need for stamp duty reforms and the impact of the rental crisis in her electorate.

Speaking to the First Home Buyer Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 late last night, Mrs Stuart highlighted how ‘the dream of owning your home had never been so unattainable for many’.

“Rents have risen sharply, as have house prices and, more recently, interest rates,” Mrs Stuart said.

“All of those factors have made it increasingly harder for first home buyers to enter the property market.

“They are disappointed and disillusioned at their prospects of ever owning their home, and I can understand why they feel that way.”

Mrs Stuart said the number of people in rental stress throughout the Heathcote electorate was alarming.

Statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the number of Engadine households in rental stress grew from 4.6 per cent in 2016 to 38.7 per cent in 2021.

In Helensburgh during the same period, the number of households in rental stress rose from 4.8 per cent to 35.6 per cent.

Mrs Stuart said if a prospective first home buyer was in rental stress, there was ‘not a lot left over at the end of the day to save for a home deposit’.

“It means the divide between the haves and the have-nots in terms of property ownership has only widened.

“However, there is light at the end of the tunnel for first home buyers in the form of a new stamp duty scheme being proposed by the NSW Government.”

The new scheme would increase the stamp duty exemption threshold for $650,000 to $800,000.

It would mean first home buyers purchasing a property up to $800,000 would not pay a single cent in stamp duty – saving up to $31,090.

The concession threshold would also increase from $800,000 to $1,000,000.

“Under the Minns Labor Government’s stamp duty changes, five out of six first home buyers would be better off,” Mrs Stuart said.

*Note: Households spending 30 per cent or more on rental or mortgage payments are considered to be in rental or mortgage stress*

For a full copy of Mrs Stuart’s speech, see here.