With an election around the corner, both major parties have started rolling out big promises for home buyers. On paper, the numbers sound impressive: $10 billion to help build 100,000 new homes, tax breaks for new builds, and tens of thousands of places in the Home Guarantee Scheme.

But dig a little deeper and the question starts to shift, are we helping people buy homes, or just creating more demand without fixing supply? If you’d rather get the low down whilst you’re on the road, you can listen to Pete break it down on the podcast here.

What’s on the table?

First, let’s talk about what’s actually being offered.

The Home Guarantee Scheme, run by Housing Australia, is still the backbone of government support for first-time buyers. It lets eligible buyers get into a home with as little as 5% deposit (or 2% for single parents) and avoid paying Lenders Mortgage Insurance, thanks to a government guarantee.

Here’s how it breaks down for the 2024–25 financial year:

• 35,000 places in the First Home Guarantee
• 10,000 places in the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee
• 5,000 places in the Family Home Guarantee

Labor has proposed lifting the cap on income and property value so more people can access it. Meanwhile, the Coalition wants to offer a mortgage interest tax deduction on new builds, saving first home buyers up to $12,000 a year over five years.

As Pete said on the podcast this morning, “It’s a really positive thing… it’s going to open the scheme up to a much bigger range of buyers and a much bigger range of locations for them to build.”

So, what’s the catch?

According to both the Master Builders Association (MBA) and the Housing Industry Association (HIA), it’s not the intent that’s the problem; it’s the execution.

Denita Wawn from the MBA welcomed the focus on housing, but said it straight: these policies won’t fix the deeper issues in the industry. “Without enough skilled tradies, faster planning approvals, and better infrastructure investment,” she said,

“We’re not going to meet demand, no matter how many incentives are offered.”

The HIA took a similar line. They warned that unless we deal with high construction costs, labour shortages, and land supply bottlenecks, we won’t hit the national target of building 1.2 million new homes by 2029.

Pete had his doubts too, especially about Labor’s 100,000-home pledge.

“It seems great in practice, but actually bringing this to market is very difficult. Where’s the land? Where’s the infrastructure?”

Some economists have also chimed in, saying the Home Guarantee Scheme, while well-meaning, could actually push house prices even higher if supply can’t keep up with the extra demand. Add interest rates to the mix, and you’ve got a potentially risky setup for buyers with tiny deposits and little buffer.

So, while these policies make for a good press release, the real question is whether they’ll make homes more affordable or more expensive for the next lot coming through.

What do we actually know?

If the government’s serious about making housing more affordable, the message from the industry is clear: help us build more homes. That means training more apprentices, unlocking land faster, and fixing the system that slows things down.

The truth is, it’s not just about helping people buy homes; it’s about making sure there are homes to buy in the first place.

As Pete put it,

“There’s going to be a lot of demand, and we already have a trade shortage… If you’re a builder, treat your tradies well right now. Or better yet, hire them. Lock them in.”

Tune into the Daily Dose with Pete and Az to get the latest on the upcoming election and anything policy related.

Author: Jonathan Tibbits

Starting his career as a lawyer, Jonathan transitioned into project management, compliance, and certification for companies throughout the industry supply chain in Australia and New Zealand. With international experience in green building, sustainability and stakeholder communication, he is passionate about innovation and building transparency and trust.