The deadline to submit supporting documentation for the $25,000 HomeBuilder grant has been extended to 30 June 2025 for existing HomeBuilder applicants affected by supply constraints and construction industry delays.
Minister for Housing Julie Collins has announced that the federal government intends to negotiate with states and territories to extend the deadline for existing eligible applicants who would have otherwise missed the original deadline of 30 April 2023.
Ms Collins, who is also the Minister for Homelessness and Small Business, said that subject to the agreement of states and territories, existing HomeBuilder applicants who had received formal approval under the scheme for off-the-plan purchases or renovations will be eligible for the extension.
This will support existing, already approved applicants who had made financial commitments on the basis they would receive the grant but would be affected by supply constraints and construction industry delays “through no fault of their own”, Ms Collins said.
She added that this would “draw a line” under what she said was the former Liberal government’s “mismanaged” HomeBuilder program.
“Average construction time frames for off-the-plan units have grown to more than two years,” Ms Collins said.
“This has led to lengthy delays, meaning thousands of HomeBuilder applicants who had purchased off-the-plan apartments stood to miss out on the support they believed they would receive.
“Based on the requirements set up by the former government, these applicants needed to provide title documents to receive the HomeBuilder grant. Title documents are not issued until construction is complete.”
Ms Collins added that the decision will not cost the budget.
The former Liberal government introduced the HomeBuilder scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide eligible owner-occupiers (including first home buyers) with a grant to build a new home or substantially renovate an existing home.
The former government extended the construction commencement requirement for all applicants from six to 18 months from when the eligible contract was signed (i.e. contracts signed 4 June 2020 to 31 December 2020 and contracts signed 1 January 2021 to 31 March 2021.
Applications for the HomeBuilder closed at midnight on Wednesday, 14 April 2021.
States and territories administer the scheme on behalf of the Commonwealth.
Applicants were required to meet strict eligibility criteria, including:
· Meeting one of two income caps — $125,000 per annum for an individual applicant based on their 2018–19 taxable income or later, or $200,000 per annum for a couple based on both 2018–19 taxable income or later.
For the $25,000 grant, applicants had to enter into a building contract on or after 4 June 2020 up to and including 31 December 2020 to either:
· Build a new home as a principal place of residence where the property value does not exceed $750,000; or
· Substantially 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 (pre-renovation)
For the $15,000 grant: you enter into a contract on or after 1 January 2021 up to and including 31 March 2021 to either:
· Build a new home as a principal place of residence, where the property value does not exceed $950,000 if the dwelling is in NSW; $850,000 if the dwelling is in Victoria; or $750,000 in all other states
· Substantially renovate an existing home as a principal place of residence, where the renovation contract is greater than $150,000 and does not exceed $750,000, and where the value of your existing property does not exceed $1.5 million (pre-renovation).
Construction must commence on or after 4 June and within 18 months of the contract.
“A perfect storm has led to a blowout in construction time frames right across the country. This perfect storm includes the former government’s mismanagement of HomeBuilder itself. The government is cleaning up this mess and making sure ordinary Australians don’t miss out on the support they believed they would receive,” Ms Collins said.
According to Treasury data, as at 24 February 2023, $2.52 billion in grant payments have been made under the HomeBuilder program across 138,101 total applications.
The highest number of applications were in Victoria (39,945), followed by Queensland (29,046), NSW (25,960), Western Australia (21,745), South Australia (13,975), Tasmania (3,925), the ACT (2,939), and the Northern Territory (566).
