As Premier of NSW, I know that there is no bigger challenge facing our state than housing affordability.
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NSW family budgets are under enormous pressure, with the combination of groceries, rents and mortgage rates really hurting households.
For 12 years, the former Liberal Government did not act.
Without action now, we are at risk of being a city with no young people.
My priority as Premier is to improve housing supply and affordability so we can relieve cost of living pressures and ensure young Australians are in a position to purchase a home to call their own.
That is why I made changes to reduce the amount of stamp duty that first home buyers pay.
Under our expanded First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme, 23,000 first home buyers paid no stamp duty and 8,000 paid a reduced rate of stamp duty.
It is because of these changes that over 31,000 first home buyers now have a place to call home. They will have the opportunity to build lives, open businesses and create a future in our state.
This is just a small part of our plan to prioritise building more homes to address the housing crisis for renters and people wanting to enter the housing market.
As part of this year's budget, we are investing $2.2 billion towards building affordable, well-located and well-designed homes.
We are delivering an additional $650 million towards increasing key health worker accommodation. This is to help nurses, paramedics, police officers and teachers live closer to where they work.
If we want to keep this city liveable, then the supply of housing must keep up with the demand for it.
I want to give the young families of NSW the chance to stay local, to stay within distance of their parents and grandparents, within the communities they have grown up in.
