How WA tradies, apprentices and uni graduates can get a discount on their home loan

2 months ago 15

Apprentices, university graduates and tradies are being offered a 1 per cent discount on Keystart home loans, which could save them up to $500 a month on repayments.

The discount is a key feature of the Keystart Skilled Start home loan launching on Friday, which Labor promised during the March election campaign.

Apprentices and trades are eligible for the new Keystart loan discount.

The loans will be available to TAFE or university graduates and anyone in construction jobs like bricklayers, carpenters, roof tilers and electricians.

Treasurer Rita Saffioti said that by helping construction workers get a home the state could build more homes.

“This initiative will help to put younger Western Australians on a solid financial footing at the start of their careers, setting them up for success in the long run,” she said.

“By having more local construction workers in secure homes, we can deliver even more homes for Western Australians.”

The interest rate discount will see applicants’ home loans drop from Keystart’s current rate of 7.1 per cent to 6.1 per cent, placing it more in line with standard variable home loan rates at major banks, which float between 5 and 7 per cent.

On a $750,000 loan, that could mean about $7000 less in interest payments a year.

The applicants will also be able to access free financial coaching through the programs.

Like all Keystart home loans, applicants can apply with a 2 per cent deposit and avoid paying lenders’ mortgage insurance.

However, the home value caps on regular Keystart loans will also apply, meaning it is only available for established home purchases up to $700,000 and new, off-the-plan or under-construction homes worth $750,000.

The opposition has attacked the Cook government’s reluctance to abolish or increase Keystart’s price caps since the election.

According to the latest Domain figures for the September quarter, the median house price in Perth reached $981,250 – up 10 per cent in one year.

There were only about 125 established properties for sale in the Perth region under $700,000 on the Real Estate Institute of WA site on Thursday, and many of those were shack-like villas.

The home building sector also remains constrained.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data on WA home build approvals released earlier this week revealed total dwelling units approval was 2390 – up 28 per cent from the month before – but that was being driven by WA government home builds.

Private sector dwelling approvals remained stagnant at 1621.

Planning Minister John Carey said the new loan would help boost supply.

“This new product through Keystart is yet another powerful demonstration that nothing is off the table when it comes to delivering more supply to the housing and rental markets,” he said.

“It’s part of our record $5.8 billion investment in housing measures since 2021, which includes adding more than 3800 social homes in that time.”

Keystart approvals plummeted after COVID-19 but are recovering.

It approved more than 1140 loans in the past 12 months and had its most successful start to a financial year since 2021 with more than 670 loans approved.

The new Keystart loan comes the same week the WA parliament passed legislation to allow the Albanese government’s Help to Buy shared equity scheme to begin operating in the west.

The scheme began in other states last week but was delayed in WA after the government failed to schedule the legislation for debate in the upper house until the last minute.

The laws were passed on Wednesday but not without the opposition sticking the boot into Saffioti for the last-minute rush.

“It goes without saying—well, I hope it would go without saying, but it often needs to be repeated—that it is the government that is in control of the legislative agenda,” Liberal MP Tjorn Sibma said on Wednesday.

“It is the one that should have the insight and the foresight around legislative priorities for government, understanding which bills are urgent and why.”