First Home Buyer Grant worth $10,000 is available for all those who are either buying or building a new home. And this grant’s value is about $20,000 for those who buy a new home or build a new home in regional Victoria. All those who have signed the contract of their home between 1 July 2017 – 30 June 2021. One thing that you have to keep in mind is the home you are about to buy or build should not be a holiday house or an investment property. In the later sections of the blog, we will also talk about First Home Loan Deposit Scheme.
Who is eligible for this scheme?
There is a very simple way of checking your eligibility for this scheme. If you open the Application for First Home Owner Grant and then answer the seven questions. Your answer to these 7 questions will determine whether you are eligible for this scheme or not. If any of the cases mentioned below are true for you, you may not be eligible for this scheme:
- if you have owned a home or any other residential property in Australia before 1 July 2000.
- If you have been living in a home for the last six months continuously that you have either owned completely or partly.
- If you have got the grant of the first-home owner in Australia.
Even if you own a home in Australia that you bought on or after 1 July 2000, and have not lived there as your home you are eligible for this scheme.
These are the conditions that can make your eligible for this scheme:
- In case you have occupied a home as your principal place of residence and are living there for the last 12 months and you should be 18 years old or more.
- You should be an Australian citizen or a permanent resident of this country.
Required documents to apply for this grant:
There are two ways you can apply for this scheme. You can do it with the help of a registered agent or with an official government department responsible for this scheme.
For those who are using a registered agent for this purpose, you have to give him the document showing your primary identity. But those who are applying with the help of an official government department have to provide a document for each of the four categories mentioned below:
- 1st Category:
- You have to provide proof showing that you are a citizen of this country. For those who are Australian citizens have to provide the following documents:
- A certificate showing that you are the citizen of Australia.
- Current Australian passport.
- Birth certificate issued by Australian Registry of Births, deaths, and marriages.
- For the citizens of other countries:
- Proof of permanent residency.
- Current passport.
- For a citizen of New Zealand:
- Only a current passport.
- 2nd category:
- In this category, the documents are needed to show the identity of the person. You can provide the following documents:
- Firearm license.
- A current passport.
- ID card showing your photo and age.
- Driving license.
- 3rd Category:
- Proof showing that you are living in Australia. The documents needed to prove it is:
- Department of Veterans’ Affairs or Centrelink card.
- Document showing the registration of your motor vehicle.
- Medicare card
- 4th Category:
- Proof showing your or your spouse’s current residential address. These are the required documents for it:
- Electricity bills, gas bills, or water bills.
- Contents insurance policy or building insurance policy.
- Rate notice.
- Your electoral enrolment card.
- Assessment notice for taxation.
- Agreement of lease or tenancy.
- There are several other evidence you have to present:
- If you are married, you have to present a marriage certificate.
- Divorced persons have to provide a divorce certificate.
- Widowed individuals have to provide the death certificate copy of their spouse.
Completing your application:
You don’t have to know about the guidelines if your work is being done by a registered agent. But those who are doing it on their own have to read the guidelines properly. Make sure you know about every guideline before submitting your application. The First Home Owner Grant (FHOG-Form-02) needs to be printed and then signed by the applicant before lodging the application.
Lodge the application:
In case you are using an agent for this purpose, you need to sign the application and your agent will do the same. And if you are doing it by yourself, you need to mail the application to the following address.
State Revenue Office
GPO Box 1641
Melbourne
VIC 3001
Or
State Revenue Office
DX 260090
Melbourne
The First Home Loan Deposit Scheme:
This scheme was introduced in the Federal Budget for the year 2020-2021. There is an arrangement for 10,000 more Aussies to buying new homes. This scheme is very essential because those people will get to live in their homes by paying only 5% of the total amount. This is a huge relief for such people as people had to pay at least 20% of the total amount.
How to apply for it?
There are various lenders who have participated in this scheme. You can contact anyone of them for grabbing this scheme. The time when you apply for this scheme will decide whether there is a home available for you. If you opt for a loan that is supported by this scheme, you can apply to more than one lender at a time.
Eligibility:
There will be different tests. These tests would be regarding different aspects of your life and they include:
- A requirement of owner-occupier.
- A deposit requirement.
- Test whether you are of the required age.
- Test regarding your prior property ownership.
- An income test.
Conclusion:
The date on which you will receive the grant depends on whether you are buying a home or building one.