First Home Buyers – Government Incentives

Both state and federal governments across Australia provide incentives and concessions for first home owners when building their home or buying an established home. These grants and concessions for first home owners are designed to give Australians a helping hand into home ownership. So you may be wondering what the concessions are, how much are the grants and am I eligible?

Let’s firstly break the concessions and grants for first home owners into what was initiated by the federal government and what was initiated by the individual state governments across Australia.

Federal Government Grants

The Federal Government introduced the First Home Owners Grant (FHOG) of $7000 nationally to all Australians that are first home owners. It was introduced on the 1st of July 2000 to offset the effect of GST (Goods & Services Tax) on home ownership. It is a national scheme but funded by the states and territories as they collect the GST on behalf of the federal government. There is additional qualification criteria that needs to be met to enable a first home owner to qualify that differs slightly from state to state. We have provided the gist of the criteria below:

  • Be at least 18 years of age
  • Not a company or a person acting as a trustee
  • Australian Citizen or Permanent Resident (Note: only one applicant is required to be a citizen or permanent resident)
  • Never claimed & been paid the FHOG before
  • Never owned and lived in a home in Australia before either directly or indirectly with a spouse
  • You must move into your home within 12 months and occupy the home for at least 6 months
  • The home value must not exceed the following depending on state
    • – QLD, ACT, VIC, NT $750,000
    • – NSW $835,000
    • – SA $575,000
    • – TAS No Limit
    • – WA $750,000 or $1,000,000 if located north of the 26th parallel (Circle of latitude)

We individually assess your eligibility whether you would qualify for the FHOG so contact us if you are unsure or would like to know more.

Additional State Grants & Concessions For First Home Owners

Since the FHOG introduction and more recently the GFC we have seen state governments introduce additional grants for first home owners when building their own home. In fact, some of these grants extend the total concessions and grants into the tens of thousands. Below we have provided a table that details the additional first home owner grants when building your own home plus the stamp duty concessions that are available.

STATE
Building Metro area
Building Regional area
LAND – Stamp Buty Concession
Total Concession & Grants Available
QLD

$10,000* (max value $600,000)

$10,000* (max value $600,000)

Full concession to $250,000 then reducing scale to $400,000

$17,175 + FHOG

NSW

$0

$0

Full concession to $400,000

$13,490 + FHOG

ACT

$0

$0

$208,300 or less – $20 payable, then reducing scale to $257,200

$5,812 + FHOG

VIC

$13,000 (max value $600,000)

$19,500 (max value $600,000)

No concessions available

$19,500 + FHOG

NT

$10,000 (max value $535,000)

$10,000 (max value $535,000)

Full concession to $385,000, no concession thereafter

$22,515 + FHOG

SA

$8,000 (max value $400,000)

$8,000 (max value $400,000)

No concession available

$8,000 + FHOG

WA

$0

$0

Full concession to $300,000 then reducing scale to $400,000

$8,835 + FHOG

TAS

$0

$0

$2,400 max concession for land up to $175,000

$2,400 + FHOG

*Expired 30th April 2012, to be eligible you must have signed a building contract on or prior to this date.

An important note to make is stamp duty is only payable on the land purchase amount regardless whether it’s a house and land package or off the plan. The only time stamp duty would be payable on the entire land and building amount is if the home has been completed by the builder and then sold to you as a completed dwelling.

In summary, there are many grants and concessions available depending on which state you wish to purchase in. These grants and concessions are not automatic and as such there are forms that are required to be completed for each grant and concession.

These forms are not always the easiest to understand and to complete (most government forms aren’t), not to mention the supporting documentation that is needed to be submitted with the application forms. We can help you with these forms to make sure the forms are completed correctly, all grants and concessions are correctly applied for and, most importantly, there are no delays in the payment of such grants.

Contact us now to review whether you are eligible, the amount you are eligible for and how much you could save.

NOTE: We have lenders that allow these grants to be used towards the deposit of your home, contact us now for more information.

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