The days of pulling your hair out over purchasing your first home are waning, thanks to South Australia’s new Housing Roadmap and effective measures to ease the squeeze on the housing market. There’s good news for renters, too.
Young couple Vanessa and Isaac are living the Australian dream. Well, almost. They both have jobs they enjoy, share a sweet rental in Adelaide’s north-eastern suburbs, and an adorable dog named Beau. All they want now is to put down roots as first homeowners. Thankfully, South Australia’s new Housing Roadmap and recent government reforms are set to make this dream more attainable for them and many others across the state.
A roadmap to hope for first home buyers
Despite the challenging housing market, there’s hope for young South Australians looking to climb that first rung of the property ladder. The South Australian government is rolling out measures to help first-time buyers, make more properties available, and ease the squeeze on the market that’s getting young people like Vanessa and Isaac down.
The 2024-25 State Budget has scrapped stamp duty for first home buyers on all new homes, including houses, flats, townhouses and apartments. This change could save eligible buyers tens of thousands of dollars, and benefits everyone else – every new home that’s built by a first homeowner means one less buyer or renter competing for existing stock.
It’s part of $30m in additional relief for first homeowners, a figure that includes removal of the property value cap so more South Aussies can access the First Home Owner Grant of $15,000. (Read more about help for first home buyers here.)
The budget also includes a whopping $843.6m housing package to deliver an additional 2,383 homes, from Seaton and Noarlunga Downs to Camden Park, Oaklands Park, Tonsley, Seaton and Eastwood. Funding for the regions has been boosted, too.
Building a better future
The government’s efforts don’t stop there. Its new Housing Roadmap outlines a strategy to tackle the housing crisis from all angles. We’re talking:
- The largest ever land release. Fast-tracking plans to release land to deliver more than 25,000 new homes.
- More rights for renters. The state government has introduced a ban on rent bidding to make rental prices fairer and changed the eligibility criteria for Private Rental Assistance, so more households can access financial support.
- Faster planning. Cutting red tape and rezoning time from 15 months to 6-9 months so new homes can be built faster and more efficiently.
- Infrastructure investment. $1.5 billion for water and wastewater infrastructure to support new developments.
- Skills development. Increased funding for building and construction apprenticeships to address workforce shortages.
- More public housing. The state government has made a significant investment in building, modernising and upgrading thousands of public homes to unlock more opportunities for people who are doing it tough.
A win in the rental game
During their hunt to buy a home, Vanessa and Isaac feel pretty happy with their rental situation following the biggest shake-up of tenancy laws in a generation, which came into effect from July 2024.
They’ve landed an accommodating landlord who not only tolerates but welcomes their four-legged family member, Beau. “When we got the house, it already had a doggie door,” Vanessa says. “We thought, ‘Surely there’ve been pets here before. Surely, they’ll be okay with it.’ The landlord just wanted to know the breed and size, and they were cool with it. We got really lucky.”
Under the state government reforms, SA renters now have the right to live with their furry (or scaly) friends with clear guidelines in place – meaning no more heart-rending decisions about whether to give up your bestie in order to put a roof over your head.
Landlords now also need a prescribed reason to kick out a periodic tenant, and tenants must be given 60-days notice to end a tenancy versus the previous 28-days. Random rent hikes have also been quashed, and all rental properties must comply with minimum housing standards and be free from health and safety hazards. In other words, no more dodgy listings!
From struggle to success
While Vanessa says she and Isaac are a lot luckier than many South Australians looking for first homes, navigating the housing market weekend after weekend has been an emotional rollercoaster. “We’ve been trying, but it’s been tough,” Vanessa says of their five-month house hunt. “We started off wanting three bedrooms, an ensuite, a backyard – all these non-negotiables. Now we’re at the point where we’ll take anything that’s semi-decent.”
Thanks to new government initiatives, Vanessa and Isaac might now be able to purchase the home of their dreams, all non-negotiables included.
For more information on the Housing Roadmap, click here.
Help us shape The Post by sharing your thoughts in our short survey:
