The Morrison Government’s Homebuilder program will drive economic activity by supporting jobs in the residential construction sector.

The Homebuilder Grant program will provide all eligible owner-occupiers (not just first home buyers) with a grant of $25,000. This grant is to build a new home or substantially renovate an existing home from 4th June 2020 until 31 December 2020.

Construction must be contracted to commence within three months of the contract date.

ELIGIBILITY

HomeBuilder applicants will be subject to eligibility criteria. Income caps of $125,000 for singles and $200,000 for couples based on their latest assessable income. A national dwelling price cap of $750,000 will apply for new home builds. Renovation price range of $150,000 up to $750,000 will apply to renovating an existing home with a current value of no more than $1.5 million.

The program is expected to provide around 27,000 grants at a total cost of around $680 million.

SUPPORTING CONSTRUCTION JOBS

This increase in residential construction will help to fill the gap in construction activity expected in the second half of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In doing so, HomeBuilder will help to support the 140,000 direct jobs and another 1,000,000 related jobs in the residential construction sector. This includes businesses and sole-trader builders, contractors, property developers, construction materials manufacturers, engineers, designers and architects.

FIRST HOME BUYERS

HomeBuilder  will complement the existing Commonwealth’s First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, First Home Super Saver Scheme as well as existing state and territory grants such as:

First Home Owner Grant programs;
stamp duty concessions; and
other grant schemes;

This year, the Government delivered the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme to help eligible first home buyers to purchase their first home with a deposit of as little as 5 per cent, allowing them to get into the market sooner. HomeBuilder will create even more opportunities for first home buyers to enter the property market, as well as support other eligible Australians to build a new home or renovate an existing home.

The HomeBuilder program will be implemented via a National Partnership Agreement, signed by the Commonwealth and state and territory governments.

More information on HomeBuilder, including further eligibility details, can be found on the Treasury Coronavirus Economic Response website.

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Article sourced from The Hon Josh Frydenberg MP Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Australia