HomeBuilder, a time-limited grant program to help the residential construction market bounce back from the Coronavirus crisis.
HomeBuilder provides eligible owner-occupiers (including first home buyers) with a grant of $25,000 to build a new home or substantially renovate an existing home.
What you need to know:
Build a new home as a principal place of residence, where the property value does not exceed $750,000.
Renovate your existing home as a principal place of residence, where the renovation contract is between $150,000 and $750,000, and where the value of your existing property does not exceed $1.5 million.
The contract needs to be signed between 4 June 2020 and 31 December 2020.
Construction must commence within three months of the contract date.
Renovations or building work must be undertaken by a registered or licenced building service 'contractor' (depending on the state or territory you live in) and named as a builder on the building licence or permit.
In negotiating a building contact, the parties must deal with each other at arm’s length. This means the contract must be made by two parties freely and independently of each other, and without some special relationship, such as being a relative. The terms of the contract should be commercially reasonable and the contract price should not be inflated compared to the fair market price.
What's not included:
The renovation works must be to improve the accessibility, safety and livability of the dwelling. It cannot be for additions to the property such as:
Tennis Courts
Swimming pools, outdoor spas and saunas
Sheds or garages (unconnected to the property)
Who is eligible:
To access HomeBuilder you must meet the following criteria;
You are an Owner-Occupier
You are aged 18 years or older
You are an Australian Citizen
Singles - taxable income is no more than $125k based on your 2018-19 tax return or later
Couples - combined taxable income of no more than $200k based on your 2018-19 tax returns or later
This grant does not apply to:
Owner-builders
Investment properties
The HomeBuilder Grant is on top of any relevant State Government First Home Owners Grants (e.g. the Queensland State Government First Home Owners $15k Grant). HomeBuilder will be non-taxable, consistent with existing state and territory First Home Owner Grant programs.
This means there is potentially a total of $40k in grants up for grabs for a new home build!
Information on when and how you will be able to access HomeBuilder will become available through the relevant State or Territory revenue office. When the States and Territories begin accepting HomeBuilder applications, they will backdate acceptance of these applications to 4 June 2020.
As always, we are here to help, if you have any questions in relation to the HomeBuilder Grant please contact our office on +617 5443 1432.
