First home buyers allowed to rent out a room under new changes in Queensland

Queensland's former Labor government quietly adopted a policy from the Liberal National Party (LNP) before the state election, allowing first-time homebuyers to rent out a room in their homes while still enjoying stamp duty discounts. Previously, first-time homebuyers were prohibited from receiving the discount if they rented out part of their home within a year of moving in.

The LNP had promised while in opposition that if they won government, they would change the rules to help first-time homebuyers and provide more rooms for renters. However, it has been revealed that the former Labor government jumped the gun, quietly adjusting the rules in the months before the October 26th vote, despite previously expressing skepticism about the idea. The new rules ensure that first-time homebuyers can receive stamp duty benefits and rent out part of their property, provided they continue to live in the home.

These arrangements only apply to leases that commence between September 10th of this year and June 30th of next year. Treasurer David Janetzki said that the new LNP government will move to make the rule change permanent. “We will fully deliver on our commitment to first home buyers to allow stamp duty concession recipients to rent out their rooms,” he said. He also stated, “Ultimately, it is pleasing that Labor in the final stages of the former government saw fit to copy the LNP’s homework. It is just a shame that they didn’t do it properly and arrange for it to lapse after the election.”

The Labor opposition confirmed that the former government made the change shortly before the election. "Our advice was that this rule had affected two people in the last four years, so we made a small change to remove the inconsistency," a spokesperson said. While in government, Labor had suggested that removing the ban on renting out rooms would not help many first-time homebuyers. At a press conference on June 16th, then-Minister Bart Mellish said that it was “not actually a big issue.”

“The government is always happy to look at tweaks and changes, and if there are some policies that we can do better, I’m always happy to look at that,” he said. “But for the [LNP] opposition to focus on this and say that they found the panacea for housing problems, that they found the panacea for housing supply, is a little bit laughable for them.” The new LNP government confirmed that only two people had recently proactively informed the Queensland Revenue Office that they had rented out a room. But they also pointed out that an average of 21,000 first-time homebuyers per year were previously barred from renting out part of their property under the old rules. The transfer duty concession ensures that first-time homebuyers do not pay any stamp duty on properties valued at $700,000 or less.