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.
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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.