The scheme would allow 40,000 first-home buyers to access cheaper deposits through a shared equity scheme with the federal government, being able to put down a deposit of as little as two per cent.
Housing Minister Clare O'Neil pitched Help to Buy as an opportunity to change people's lives. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)
Housing Minister Clare O'Neil urged the plan's opponents to put differences aside so more people could enter the housing market.
"It's giving people the certainty of home ownership, the opportunity to live in their community and the chance to create opportunities for their families," she told parliament on Tuesday.
"We face few opportunities that are as clear as this one to, in one move, be able to change the lives of 40,000 people around our country."
The government has reintroduced the bill to break a deadlock on the issue, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese previously hinting the stalled legislation could be used as a trigger for a double-dissolution election.
The scheme would do little to solve issues for people accessing the property market, Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said.
The Greens are willing to negotiate for the changes to pass, he said, but warned buyers could end up owing thousands to the Commonwealth.
"It's been outlined ... that where someone earns more than $90,000 a year and they've accessed the scheme, they are liable to pay their share back to the government," he told reporters in Canberra.
"There's a circumstance where someone accesses this scheme, gets a promotion and then owes the government $300,000."
The Greens had called for the government to make changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax, or implement a rent freeze for the minor party to support the reform.
The government has also struggled to gain support for its Build to Rent bill, which would provide tax incentives for developers who rent out newly built housing stock.
Bipartisan support is needed to fix Australia's housing problems, the property industry says. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)
Neither bill was a silver bullet but delaying legislation to tackle the housing crisis would only cause it to drag on further, Property Council of Australia chief executive Mike Zorbas said.
"These last few sitting weeks of the year are the right time to sideline entrenched political views and pass legislation to build more homes and get more Australians onto the property ladder," he said.
Australia was decades behind in supplying the market-rate and social housing needed to address the crisis, Mr Zorbas said, with current home-building levels at two-thirds of the required rate to hit the national target of 1.2 million new dwellings by 2029.
"We need bipartisan support to fix the legislation before the Senate and unlock massive additional investment in rental housing at a time when the supply of new apartments is at half of 2017 levels," he said.
Economists have said the Build to Rent bill would help improve supply, but the Help to Buy scheme would make housing more expensive by further driving up demand.
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