Nationals WA announce scrapping of stamp duty for first-home buyers as Love decries regional housing squeeze

Stamp duty for first-time home buyers will be axed under a Nationals WA government, Opposition Leader Shane Love announced on Saturday. Mr Love made the pledge at his party’s annual State Conference in Bunbury, saying the policy would help up to 5000 first-home buyers each year. The party leader said scrapping the stamp duty threshold altogether would bring hope to young people looking to get their first home in a challenging market — and would be more in line with the current market’s median price, Mr Love said. “Under the Nationals in government in Western Australia, we will lead the nation as the first State to abolish stamp duty for first owners,” he said. “This is a monumental step, helping 10s of 1000s of young — mainly young — West Australians into their first home. “It’s set to benefit up to 20,000 new homeowners in the next four years, revolutionising their path towards home ownership. “For years, the State stamp duty concession for first homeowners has lagged behind the median house price.” The 20,000 figure assumes a more than 40 per cent increase in new home owners with only 3548 people buying their first homes in 2023-24, according to the party. The Nationals predict the policy would cost about $160 million in lost revenue. In the most recent State Budget the Government estimated $2.47 billion in revenue from stamp duty in 2023-24. Mr Love said he wasn’t concerned about the lost income. “Of course stamp duty, transfer duty, whichever you like, is one of the biggest contributors to the State coffers,” he said. “We don’t think that the State Government needs to be, at this stage, earning that money from young people trying to get their first home and trying to get a start in life.” Speaking to media after his conference speech, Mr Love confirmed he had not spoken to the WA Liberals about the plan. With it being all but impossible for the Nationals WA to form Government in its own right come March, it remains unlikely the plan would get off the ground without support from the Liberals if a deal were to be done between the parties. The policy comes in response to a change of stamp duty rules for first-homebuyers by Labor during the most recent Budget increasing the concession threshold to $600,000 and scrapping any payment on houses less than $450,000.