Australia’s Albanese pledges A$10 billion for first-time home buyers as election looms

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s government said on Sunday it would spend A$10 billion ($6.29 billion) on grants and loans to build up to 100,000 homes to help would-be home buyers get on the property ladder, ahead of a May 3 general election that has housing affordability as a key issue.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s centre-left Labor government, neck-and-neck with the opposition Liberal-National coalition ahead of the national vote, has pledged to build 1.2 million homes by 2030 to ease cost pressures in Australia, where many are dissatisfied with a lack of affordable housing.

The government, ahead of its campaign launch in Western Australia state capital Perth on Sunday, said if re-elected it would partner with state developers and industry to roll out the home-building plan reserved for first home buyers “to give them a fair go at owning their own home”.

Additionally, the government said it would guarantee a portion of a first home buyer’s home loan, allowing them to buy a home with a 5% deposit.

“This will help people buy their first home faster, without paying the burden of Lenders Mortgage Insurance,” Albanese said in a statement.

Liberal leader Peter Dutton, a former police officer and the defence minister in the last Liberal-National government, has also been campaigning on the nation’s so-called housing crisis, which he says is putting home ownership out of reach for many in the country of around 26 million.

Dutton, at the coalition’s campaign launch in New South Wales state capital Sydney on Sunday, is set to launch a rival plan allowing first-time buyers of new homes to deduct mortgage payments from income taxes, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

Dutton’s personal approval ratings are now close to those of Albanese, a long-time Labor lawmaker who grew up in government housing. Albanese has suffered from waning popularity as living costs and interest rates rose steeply during his tenure.

($1 = 1.5911 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Sam McKeith; Editing by Sandra Maler)