Wagga Wagga City Council has progressed its new housing scheme to provide affordable new homes for first-time buyers, a move that has caught the attention of the NSW Premier. Photo: Wagga Wagga City Council.
NSW Premier Chris Minns has applauded Wagga Wagga City Council’s approach to providing affordable housing to first-time buyers, amid a property price boom in the city.
In July the council voted to amend its Wagga Wagga Local Environmental Plan (LEP) to implement the Entry Point Housing Program, ultimately aimed at providing cheaper housing for first-time buyers.
The new scheme comes off the back of Wagga’s house prices being among the fastest rising in Australia, with the median house price across the city rising by 8.1 per cent since April and currently sitting at around $665,000.
The council’s general manager Peter Thompson said changing the LEP allowed for restrictions on previous building conditions to be lifted and ensuring first-time buyers could still afford a home.
“The Entry Point Housing Program aims to streamline the regulatory processes to facilitate the development of lower cost, well located and well designed housing for eligible local purchasers,” Mr Thompson said.
“The dwellings must be sold at an agreed price determined at the approval stage and are only for eligible purchasers who don’t own other property and must live in the house as their principal residence.
“There would be no assets test or means test, and there’s no income test associated with the scheme, which is directed solely at someone who does not currently own a home.
“By putting in these restrictions, we’re excluding investors, so if you’re someone who has a lot of real estate assets and you’re building the portfolio, these properties are not for you.”
In support of the council’s scheme, Member for Wagga Dr Joe McGirr used his time in NSW Parliament on Wednesday (5 August) to ask the Premier how the State Government would aid in the delivery of the scheme.
“Noting the Premier’s support for the development of the entry point housing proposal that would deliver quality homes at a very affordable cost, will he outline how Wagga might lead the way in enabling more people who do not own a home to be able to do so?” Dr McGirr asked.
“There is no asset or income test for the available homes, but the council anticipates that they can be built for around $410,000, presumably excluding profit,” Mr Minns replied.
“It is a good initiative that uses the arbitrage or opportunity from a smaller lot that will not be available for other investors or builders to enter the market.
“It will only be provided to those buyers. That is attractive to some of the developers the council is working with to get the project up and running. They are innovative builders that I met when I was in Wagga Wagga.
“Everybody is doing their bit — in Wagga Wagga at least. The traditional approach of council not addressing one aspect of the marketplace because it is affecting another part of the economy is not working, so they have come up with an innovative solution.”
