50k for new Builds

15k QLD first home owner + 25k federal grant is a nice little pay check for most of Brisbane + surrounds

 

Looks good on paper and in the media with an election just around the corner to be won

 

If Queensland wants to stimulate growth through home construction, it should cooperate with the federal government and open the first home owner grant to established homes as well. The first home owner then has an opportunity to renovate an established home or infill or renew a home. It seems like a no brainer to me. Affordable home in an affordable manner.

 

I am in this boat and interested also as to the answer to that question.

 

I guess you could always sign the

I guess you could always sign the building contract on your own. I'm not sure how that effects finance though if going dual finance. Can any brokers clear this up if its possible or not?

 

Provided you pay the first progress payment prior to 31 December. I see no reason why that cant be token eg $1 or $500 however. The key issue is not a deposit but the first progress payment. Its going to depend on the legislation.

 

My understanding of the scheme is that each state will need to pass state laws acceptable to the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth will fund each state scheme. State laws could vary slightly eg all owners must be citizens v one owner as a citizen. Its also possible the applicaant need only be one of the owners who is the citizen.
Since the states cant seem to agree on opening borders I have little faith on this rolling out promptly.

 

In all my contracts the first progress payment is the remainder of the deposit so that should qualify?

 

I am quite curious on who would be eligible when building the new home, given this time restriction

From my understanding, assuming you already have a registered land, the common procedure is to sign the contract with the builder, who will come up with the building plan and submit to the council. There is no way this is to be done within 3 months from the contract date as requirements since you cannot go straight to the council after signing the contract. Other work including booking appointments of features upgrade/finalization need to be done as well. This can be ruled out

2nd scenario is that you have already have the registerd land + planning approved and then seek for the builder to implement it. Is this a common practice when building a new home? I thought you should find a builder first as each builder is specialized to some template/plans only. Hence, normally the builder will choose the most suitable template to the land from their availability and submit to the council accordingly.

3rd scenario is similar to scenario 1, The contract was signed ages ago and it is under the process of Council approval. One it is approved, the contract will need to be cancelled with both party acceptance and the new one to be signed so that it is after 04/06/2020. I can only see this as the most likely situation to meet the 3 month contract deadline.

Is my understanding about this scheme correctly as above?

 

How are they assessing the income?

Is it the taxable income ( total income minus all losses)?

What happens if you are over slightly? 5K?

Also, for how long do you have to stay in the house and make it PPOR??

What happens if someone gets in the house and move after 12 months...

Asking for a friend who was slightly happy but seems they will miss out by a bit as their adjuSted taxable income is over by 5K

 

I think the income test is quite straight forward, If you are 1$ above the threshold, you are out of the game.

Only if you are slightly above the asset test, you may be able to get though ( By downgrading / excluding features to reduce the price) or to outsource some work such as planning or site cost to a third party so that the main contract is below the threshold.

Just my opinion though

 

This makes sense...

Another question from my friend...

So the criteria is 200K for a couple...
And 125K for a single person..

What if the wife only gets the loan under her name only??

Will she qualify for the 25K grant?
Or she cannot since as a couple she is over that threshold?

 

I would say only she would be assessed if it's only her on the contract.

 

My MIL is going full steam ahead for a reno of her new place because of this scheme. She just bought a new house and was going to delay the reno a couple of years, but due to the scheme she is going ahead.

My query is:

- if she uses an architect, goes through planning, then prepares working drawings, then locks in a builder and pays first payment, this could take over 6 months.
- or she could go to a local builder who also offers in house design. Would the first payment to a design and construct builder qualify?

 

https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-06/Fact_sheet_HomeBuilder.pdf

One weird thing I noticed in the fact sheet is that they are classing a knock down and rebuild as a renovation - eligible up to the $1.5 million limit.

"Owner occupiers Jacqui and Henry decide to knock down and rebuild their existing home."

Is this consistent with other tax/accounting treatments of a rebuild?

 

Metricon just sent out an email offering an extra $40k* in Vic.

Haven’t checked what the asterisk means.

 

That they will increase the contract price by 40k probably .

But honestly no builder is just going to give away 40k. It won’t be free whatever it is.

 

I agree - though apparently they have to be able to show that the price hasn’t increased due to the grant. I’m going to ask them to prove this!

I know that the volume builders are always offering these sorts of ‘bonuses’ - so I think it’s just a repackage.

Tends to be promoted as ‘$xx to spend on luxury upgrades’.

However, sometimes these incentives are only available in new estates rather than in the established areas.

 

Discount on materials? An owner builder can still engage each trade (cutting out the builder/project manager), and each trade sources materials..
I think the $25k reno grant would be well suited for owner builders as the cash is paid direct to each trade and not inflated into a builders margin..

 

All major builders have offers of 40-50k savings. It's usually either off the marked price or its 40-50k of extras.