08 June 2010
Today’s NSW State Budget gives a strong boost to new home construction. Included in the budget is a “Comprehensive Housing Strategy.” This is a clear response to the 12 point plan for reform articulated by the Urban Taskforce in the recently released Going Nowhere report.
It’s worth noting that, among other things, ourGoing Nowhere report specifically called for stamp duty concessions for off-the-plan purchases and caps on development infrastructure charges. Other measures on land supply, planning regulations and reforming development control plans also directly relate to issues we dealt with in Going Nowhere.
The headline figures
- The NSW Budget is back in surplus – two years earlier than forecast.
- $1.1 billion Budget turnaround in 2009-10.
- Budget surpluses worth a combined $3.15 billion over the next four years, an average of around $800 million a year.
- A $101 million surplus is estimated for 2009-10, and a $773 million is estimated for 2010-2011.
The surplus has been made possible by a recovery in the property market that emerged in 2009-10, earlier than was expected in last year’s Budget. Stamp duty revenue is estimated to have increased by $874 million (32 per cent) to an estimated $3.6 billion in 2009-10 from $2.7 billion in 2008-09.
Stamp duty is expected to grow by 12 per cent in 2010-11 and at an average annual rate of 8 per cent in the four years to 2013-14.
