A woman from Sunshine Coast, juggling four casual jobs yet still unable to save for a home deposit, has criticized the new shared equity scheme for first home-buyers, claiming it fails to tackle the underlying causes of housing stress.
The Boost to Buy Home Equity program, announced in Queensland’s recent state budget, aims to help 1,000 eligible first-time buyers enter the property market. The government plans to contribute 30 percent of the equity for new build homes and 25 percent for existing properties, with a cap of one million dollars on property value. The scheme is intended to enable Queenslanders to purchase homes with as little as a two percent deposit.
However, Jade Weatherill from Buderim argues that the scheme primarily benefits couples or higher-income earners. She pointed out that low-income households spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent remain excluded from meaningful help.
“Those schemes are great when it’s a couple and they’re both working full time, maybe with some help from parents,” she said. “But for a single woman on casual employment, I’m not even going to bother trying.”
Ms Weatherill advocates for more flexible mortgage structures that allow individuals to qualify for loans regardless of income, with options to pay off over a longer period at lower rates. She believes such alternatives would better address the broader issue of housing affordability and stress.
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