Thousands of Victorians now have the comfort and security of a new home thanks to the Andrews Labor Government’s ground-breaking Homes for Victorians initiative.

Changes to the first home buyer stamp duty concession and first home owners grant came into effect on 1 July 2017.

Since then more than 28,000 first home buyers have benefited from stamp duty exemptions and concessions, while more than 6,000 have received first home owner grants to break into the housing market.

In the first year of these changes 493 first home buyers in the City of Greater Dandenong paid no stamp duty at all, while an additional 227 paid reduced stamp duty – a saving of over $14 million that has gone back into the pockets of hard working local residents. That compares to only 389 first home buyers that received a concession in 2016/17.

There has also been a strong uptake of the First Home Owners Grant (FHOG) with nearly 6,100 applications in 2017/18, including 46 first home buyers in the City of Greater Dandenong. That means more savings for Victorians who received the FHOG – with total savings of more than $85 million.

The Labor Government is also 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, with 60 participants having already signed property contracts. A range of metropolitan and regional areas are included in the scheme – cover 85 Melbourne suburbs and 130 regional towns and suburbs, including Dandenong.