What is the First Home Owners Grant: What does it do?
What is this grant all about?
The First Home Owners Grant is a one – off payment to help first home buyers to either buy or build their first residential property. This grant was introduced by the Australian Government on the July 1st 2000 as a offset to the effect of the GST on home ownership.
How do you qualify?
A first home buyer may qualify for this grant if they are either purchasing an established home or if they are building or purchasing a new home. The grant has the following attributes
• geographically determined caps on the total value of the home;
• residence requirements; and
• eligibility criteria for applications
Savings for your first home
Eligibility Criteria
This particular article will focus on the eligibility criteria for this grant, the criteria requirements are as follows.
• The application must be completed by a natural person (not a company or an organisation) and be 18 years old or over a the time of making the application, there are however some exemptions for people under 18.
• At least one of the applicants must be an Australian citizen or a permanent residence at the time of making the application
• The applicant or their spouse or de-facto partners can’t have previously received the grant from any jurisdiction in Australia
• Applicants of their spouse or def-cato partner can’t have owned a home in Australia prior to the 1st of July 2000 and occupied that home before the 30th of June 2004.
• Applicants must occupy the home as their principal place of residence for a continuous period of at least six months commencing within 12 months of settlement if purchasing a home, or within 12 months from the date of completion if building a home.
• Applicants must hold a relative interest (ownership) in the land on which the home is situated.
• The applicant must enter into a contract to buy or build (or in case of an owner builder, commence construction) on or after 1 July 2000.
For more information on age exemptions please visit the Government of Western Australia’s Website
How do we use this grant?
The team at Invest Now Australia uses this grant to help as the first step to getting you into your own home. Some come and find us on Facebook and see how we can hep you get into the home of your dreams.