Following the NSW government’s recent announcement of increases to the eligibility threshold for first home owner’s grants, combined with significant infrastructural and services developments in Glen Innes, local real estate agents agree that Glen Innes is becoming a candidate for significant long-term positive residential development.
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With first home owners grants of up to $15,000 available to first home buyers building or buying newly-developed homes up to the price of $750,000, First National Real Estate branch manager Robyn Willis said first home buyers will be prioritising purchasing and building new homes, calling for further residential development land in Glen Innes.
While the Glen Innes residential zoning is characterised by predominantly existing developments ranging in prices from $200,000 to $300,000, Ms Willis said significant local developments in the Australia Asia Flight Academy will demand more residential development land in the district to accommodate the influx of new residents anticipated at completion.
“There is a shortage of residential land to build on in Glen Innes,” Ms Willis said.
“It means there are not a lot of new homes.”
With grants conditioned on home-buyers purchasing or building new homes, real estate agents agree that as the community anticipates the completion of significant local developments in the flight school, that further residential rezoning and construction could see a significant long-term positive development for the region.
“When the flight school comes we are going to need new houses,” Ms Willis said.
“We do not have enough homes to house the expected influx of people,”
With the state government announcing that the eligibility threshold for first home buyers grants will increase from properties valued up to $650,000 to properties valued up to $750,000 under the new state budget, Ray White Real Estate licensee Casey Grob said the threshold increase will not dramatically effect local home buyers given average local property prices.
“Our average property prices are nowhere near $750,000,” she said, but noted that, while local property prices are balances between $200,000–300,000, the grants will offer local home buyers and investors an excellent incentive to prioritise new developments.
“It is a fantastic opportunity for people out there who can build and buy new homes.”
While local agents are confident that local infrastructural developments will see a significant positive effect for the district, Ms Grob said buyers are looking to see progress in local developments as an incentive to invest in local property.
Selling a number of investment properties on the announcement of the flight academy, Ms Grob said she was confident that as developments progress and investors are able to recognise progress in the community, Glen Innes will see further positive long-term investment.
Anticipating coming developments, Glen Innes Severn Council received funding in October last year to prepare a Development Control Plan (DCP) that considered the rezoning of rural land at the Hunter and Taylor Street intersections for use in residential development.
According to council’s director of development, regulatory and sustainability services Graham Price, the DCP includes provisions for the engineering of roads and environmental tests to determine the suitability of sites set out in council’s Local Environmental Plan (LEP) 2012 for residential development.
Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall commented on the increase in first home owners grants saying the program was targeted at making it as easy as possible for first home buyers to enter the property market and boost incentives for the construction of new housing stock.
