New Senate Inquiry into financing for first home buyers

The Senate has voted for a new Inquiry to examine how Australia’s financial regulation can drive home ownership.

The Inquiry, to be conducted by the Senate Economics References Committee, will specifically explore ways to reduce lending costs and improve accessibility for first home buyers. This Inquiry will be about people, not institutions.

The nation can do more to support the aspiration of first home buyers. Australians must be able to have access to a mortgage as a prerequisite for a first home.

We will generate more options to tilt the scales in favour of first home buyers. We will investigate lending practices by banks and private credit, opportunities to drive deregulation, competition and consider eligibility barriers to first home finance such as HECS.

The Committee expects to hear from Australians, the market and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).

Getting institutions to better serve individual aspiration stands in contrast to Labor’s corporatist and big government approach to housing.

If the average working Australian loses access to capital for a mortgage to fund their family home, this will cement the intergenerational divide and destroy the Australian Dream.

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