Residences in Sydney, New South Wales. From April 1, foreign-owned companies and temporary residents will be barred from purchasing established property in Australia. - AFP
SYDNEY: The Australian government has announced a two-year ban on foreign entities purchasing established residential property in the country.
"Today the government is announcing that we are going to ban foreign ownership of existing property in Australia," Australian Housing Minister Clare O'Neil told broadcaster Sky News on Sunday (Feb 16), calling the ban "an important move."
"It is not a silver bullet to the housing crisis because there is no silver bullet, but I really firmly believe that given the housing pressures that Australians are facing today, we need to orient the entire efforts of the Australian government around security of housing for Australians and, wherever possible, home ownership for a broader range of young Australians," the minister said.
The ban is to take effect on April 1. It will prevent foreign-owned companies and temporary residents from purchasing established property in Australia.
O'Neil said that in the 2022-23 financial year, foreign buyers bought around 1,800 existing homes.
"Over a 2-year period we're going to free up... effectively twice that for Australians to get into home ownership," O'Neal said.
The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported that developments of at least 20 properties would be exempt from the ban.
For the period from July 2022 to June 2023, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) reported 5,360 residential real estate purchases - for a total value of US$3.1 billion - had "a level of foreign ownership." Of these, 1,823 were "established dwellings." - dpa
