As Australia is officially in a recession and to provide a boost to the construction industry, the Morrison Government has announced a new HomeBuilder program from 4th of June, 2020 until 31 December 2020.
Eligible applicants will be able to receive a $25,000 grant to build a new home or substantially renovate an existing home that is owner-occupied. If you are a First Home Buyer, this grant will be in addition to current stamp duty concessions and First Home Owner grants.
There are some strict eligibility requirements that need to be met to be able to apply for this HomeBuilder grant, including:
For you, the owner:
Must be an Australian Citizen (no details have been provided for whether it is available to Permanent Residents or NZ citizens yet)
Either have an individual income of less than $125K, or $200K for a couple
You enter into a building contract between 4 June 2020 and 31 December 2020 to build a new home or substantially renovate your existing home as a principal place of residence
You and the builder must deal with each other "at arm's length", meaning the parties do not have a special relationship such as being a relative
Even if you are not a first home buyer, you can still apply for this grant if it is your principal place of residence
The grant is not available to owner-builders
Documents such as proof of id, copy of the contract, copy of your 2018-19 tax return and evidence of the land value may need to be provided (TBC at a later date).
For the property:
The new home property value does not exceed $750K, or the renovation is between $150K and $750K
If renovating, the value of your existing property does not exceed $1.5mil and the renovation is on the main part of your property
The new home or renovation is not for an investment property
Construction or renovation must start within 3 months of the contract date
The property includes all residential dwelling types such as house, apartment, house and land package, off-the-plan etc.
For the contract:
The terms of the contract should be commercially reasonable and the contract price should not be inflated compared to the fair market price
Renovations or building work must be undertaken by a registered or licenced building service 'contractor' and names a builder on the builder licence/permit.
Forms and instructions are yet to be provided by Revenue NSW, however MyProperty Conveyancer will be on board to assist clients for any future applications when these details are available. You are also welcome to apply for this grant, and any other program currently available by yourself. For more information, please see the following links from which the above information has been obtained from: