10 Essential Facts About The First Home Owner Grant
There are ten essential facts that all first home buyers should know about the First Home Owner Grant, they are as follows:
1. We’ll start off with the anomaly existing in Western Australia, as it is the only state or territory in the entire nation that has two vastly different home values that concern potential first home buyers. The accepted maximum value of a property throughout Australia for which the First Home Owner Grant is applicable is $750,000, the same applies in Western Australia too, that is below the 26th parallel, but north of that line the maximum value is extended to $1,000,000. The jurisdictions of Northern Territory, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland all apply the $750,000 cap on house values. South Australia caps it at $575,000 and there is no limit stipulated in the Australian Capital Territory or Tasmania.
2. As the First Home Owners Grant is funded by the Australian Government there is no taxation applied to its acceptance anywhere in Australia.
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3. If you make application for the First Home Owners Grant at the same time that you make application to buy your first established house and have it forwarded to the relevant State Revenue Office by your lender, or by your mortgage broker, on your behalf, you can expect to receive the one off tax free payment of $7,000 at the time of settlement. You can apply directly to your relevant State Revenue Office but the approval process is usually slower.
4. First home buyers building their own homes can expect to receive their grant money at the same time the first scheduled payment is due to be made by your lender on the construction loan. Often referred to as the first progress payment. If you failed to lodge your application at this early stage you will still have 12 months to do so from the time you either purchased or finished construction on the home. The commissioned can extend this time limit even further, depending on the circumstances.
5. The first Home Owners Grant is available to all genuine Australian first home buyers. During the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) it was boosted to $14,000 for people buying their first established home and to $21,000 to those building , or buying, a new home. This move, along with the lowering of interest rates by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), to historically low levels helped ease the economy through those perilous times.
6. Just on 25,000 first home buyers took advantage of the situation in the first few months by purchasing their first homes during that period. This figure was five times the normal uptake. As the economy picked up again the grant came back to its normal $7,000 and the RBA brought interest rates back up to quell any inflationary trends that were staring to show.
7. The First Home Owner Grant can only be accessed the once. If your purchase went bad and you finished up having to sell for some reason, you will not get the same assistance second time around, even though you may not own a house of your own.
8. Besides all eligible Australian citizens and those with permanent residential status receiving the First Home Owner Grant, most states and territories also offer additional incentives such as further grants or the waiving, or generous concessions off, their stamp duty costs.
9. Although first home buyers can access the grant from a mortgage broker or their lender, if that organisation is authorised to accept it, you can submit the documents yourself to the relevant State (or Territory) Revenue Office. If you do choose to complete it yourself you must make certain that all questions are answered honestly and that all the required supporting documentation is attached. If you don’t do this properly the application will be returned to you unprocessed. The safest way is to have a mortgage broker help you put it all together, therefore having it forwarded knowing it has been completed professionally and properly.
10. If you are married, or living with someone as a domestic partner, whether they are involved in the purchase or not, you still have to give all their personal details as they too are not to have owned property anywhere in Australia previously either. Failure to give this information accurately could be construed as fraud and if found guilty you could be subjected to a heavy fine, as well as having to pay the grant money back if it had already been paid to you in good faith.
Related posts:
- First Home Owner Grant Overview (VIC)
- Eligibility Criteria First Home Owner Grant (NT)
- How to Apply for the First Home Owner Grant (WA)
- Frequently Asked Questions: First Home Owner Grant
- First Home Owners Grant (ACT)
- First Home Owner Grant – Lodgement Guide and Application Form (ACT)
- First Home Owner Boost Information (ACT)
- First Home Buyers Grant WA
- First Home Buyers Grant Northern Territory (NT)
- First Home Owner Boost Overview (VIC)
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