Photo: Realtor.com

A year after its launch, more than 17,000 first home buyers have benefited from stamp duty exemptions and concessions, while more than 2,000 have received first home owner grants to break into the housing market.

In the eight months to February 2018, almost 14,000 first home buyers across Victoria paid no stamp duty, while another 3,200 paid reduced stamp duty – a saving of more than $310 million that has gone back into the pockets of hard working Victorians.

The doubling of the First Home Owner Grant in regional Victoria has also seen 1,285 buyers receive the $20,000 First Home Owner Grant – a saving of more than $25 million for regional Victorians.

In addition, the Labor Government’s off-the-plan concession changes have rebalanced the market between investors and home buyers.

For lower income households, the Labor Government is piloting HomesVic – a new shared equity scheme to help up to 400 eligible first home buyers reduce the amount of money needed to buy their own home.

A broad range of metropolitan and regional areas are included in the scheme – including 85 Melbourne suburbs and 130 regional towns and suburbs – with around 1,000 applications already submitted.

These and a range of other initiatives – including increasing land supply in Melbourne’s growth corridors, increasing the supply of social and affordable housing, speeding up local government planning decisions, and making long-term leasing a real option for Victorians – are making housing fairer for all Victorians.