The Queensland State Government has recently announced changes to the grant available for first home buyers in Queensland, with the grant formally known as the ‘Great Start Grant’ being replaced with the ‘Queensland First Home Owners’ Grant’ from 1 July 2016.
Apart from the name change there are also a few other changes that will prove very beneficial to first home owners looking to enter the property market and buy their first home.
The Queensland First Home Owners Grant is designed to make it easier and more affordable for first home buyers to own their own property to live in.
The aim of the grant is to provide a financial boost to first home buyers to get them started in the market, allowing for them to afford something more than they were expecting and get into a new home sooner.
The Queensland First Home Owners Grant provides first home buyers with a grant of $15,000.00 towards buying or building their first house, unit, townhouse or apartment. In applying for the grant you can buy a brand new property, buy a property off-the-plan, or choose to build a brand new house on a block of land.
In order to be eligible to receive the grant you must:
- Be an Australian citizen or permanent resident (or be applying for the grant with someone who is);
- You or the person you are applying with must must not have previously owned property in Australia;
- You must be over the age of 18; and
- You must be buying or building a brand ‘new home’ valued at under $750,000.00.
For the purposes of the grant a new home is a house, unit, apartment or townhouse that:
- Has not previously been occupied as a place of residence;
- Has not previously been sold as a place of residence; or
- Is a substantially renovated house.
Under the updated first home buyer scheme, the Queensland Government has also announced a one-off 12-month boost of $5,000.00 to the grant, which will see the grant be raised to $20,000.00 until 30 June 2017.
For more information on the grant and to assess your eligibility, visit the Queensland First Home Owners Grant website at https://firsthomeowners.initiatives.qld.gov.au
So if you are looking to enter the property market and buy your first home on the Gold Coast, or in Brisbane, there has never been a better time to buy a property and doing so in the next 12 months will see you receive an extra grant of $5,000.00 from the Queensland Government.