Housing minister Clare ONeil has been slammed over a social media sales pitch encouraging Australians to tell their friends about Labors first-home buyers scheme.
Ms ONeil posted the video to her X account on Monday afternoon to promote the expansion of the governments Home Guarantee Scheme.
The scheme allows first-home buyers, regional buyers, and single parents to purchase property with a deposit of five per cent or less, rather than the usual 10 to 20 per cent typically required for a home loan.
In the caption, she wrote: Are you thinking about buying a place? Is a friend of yours thinking about it? Tell them about Labors expanded Home Guarantee Scheme and you could be eligible to buy with a 5 per cent or less deposit.
She said in the video: Buying a house is one of the biggest things that youre ever going to do in your life and the Albanese government wants to be there for you when it matters.
We want more Australians to have the option of moving from renting to home buying and the Home Guarantee Scheme is one of the ways were helping out at the moment.
Ms ONeil explained government was teaming up with the banks to make the scheme possible, before saying make sure you tell your friends.
But the video prompted a backlash against between the housing minister, with one comparing her to a used car salesman.
Housing minister Clare ONeil has been slammed over a social media post about Labors housing scheme (pictured)
One user asked: Why do your videos all feel like youre selling a used car?
Someone else said: Your job isnt to be a saleswoman involving pyramid schemes.
A third user said: I love the part, the government is working with the banks to make this possible…..gold.
Others said the demand for housing would only drive prices up further and pointed out that it was increasingly tough for tenants to save a deposit because rental prices continue to rise.
Hey Clare, Can you explain how your help-to-buy scheme is reducing the price of houses? Asking for a friend, one user said.
Someone else said: No thanks. At this point as a single renter on over $110k in Sydney I’m basically scraping by since rent is almost 50 per cent and that’s south west…not CBD.
Australia’s house prices are legally sanctioned scams.
Australians were not convinced by the housing ministers comments (pictured)
Some expressed concern that a deposit of five per cent or less significantly increases weekly mortgage repayments on a typical 30-year loan, placing more pressure on first-home buyers.
However, not everyone was critical - some said it was a good way to ensure first-home buyers can get into the housing market.
This is great, but at 70 I am afraid the thought of buying my own house is now way beyond me and my wife, unless we win lotto, but it will help the young ones along, one user said.
The Albanese government has also pledged to help more people own homes by building 1.2 million houses over five years.
Labor said the builds would increase the supply and drive prices down, but the plan has been heavily criticised as a money-making scheme for wealthy developers.