HomeBuilder grant is extended for 3 months but at $15,000
The Australian government’s HomeBuilder grant for new housing construction projects has been extended, but at a reduced amount.
The current HomeBuilder grant of $25,000 is due to expire on 31 December 2020, but will now be extended to 31 March, 2021, at the lower rate of $15,000.
The government is expecting another 15,000 construction projects within the extended 3 month period.
"It's critical we keep the momentum up for Australia's economic recovery," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
"Extending HomeBuilder will mean a steady pipeline of construction activity to keep tradies on the tools." Mr Morrison said.
There's more good news for home buyers. As we’ve seen, buyers are eagerly awaiting their projects to begin and there’s concern the local councils may slow the construction start times due to more activity at the council stage. The construction stage needed to start within 3 months of signing the build contract, however now the government has introduced a new measure where all approved applicants who signed build contracts on or after June 4, 2020, are given an extended period for construction to commence, from three months to six months.
The decision follows call from Low Deposit First Homes and other industry leaders with concerns that new home buyers could miss out on the HomeBuilder grant due to a bottleneck of applications and issues outside of their control.