Eligible applicants
HomeBuilder is available to individual applicants and couples who are or will be registered as the owner on the certificate of title. If you are the only person who is listed, or will be listed, on the certificate of title as owner of the property, you must apply as an individual applicant. If there is, or will be, more than one person listed on the certificate of title, they must jointly apply as a couple provided, they meet the definition of ‘couple’. Each applicant must be:
- a natural person (not a company or trust)
- aged 18 years or older at the date of the contract
- an Australian citizen.at the date of application.
When you must be registered on the certificate of title as the owner of the land or property depends on the type of contract you enter into:
- For contracts to build, you must be registered on title as owner of the land by no later than the laying of foundations and the first progress payment is made to the builder.
- For substantial renovations, you must be registered on the title as owner of the property at the time that you enter into the contract for renovation works.
- For off the plan/new homes, you must be registered on the title as owner of the property when the building is completed, and you are entitled to take possession of the home.
HomeBuilder is only open to Australian citizens. Accordingly, permanent resident and/or visa holders are not eligible. Where two people are listed on the certificate of title as registered proprietors, they must apply for HomeBuilder as a couple and both applicants must meet the eligibility criteria, including the citizenship requirement.
Applicant(s) must be below one of the following two income caps
- $125,000 per annum for an individual based on either your 2018-19 or 2019-20 taxable income, as shown on your notice of assessment issued by the Australian Taxation Office or
- $200,000 per annum for a couple based on either your combined 2018-19 or 2019-20 taxable income, as shown on your notices of assessment issued by the Australian Taxation Office.
A couple is considered as two people that are legally married, in a registered domestic relationship, or living as a couple on a genuine domestic basis, excluding people related to each other, for example, siblings.
Each applicant must not have previously received the HomeBuilder Grant for any property owned individually or jointly with another person in any Australian State or Territory.
Each applicant must live in the home as their principal place of residence for a continuous period of at least six months on completion of construction, renovation or settlement.
Investment properties are excluded from HomeBuilder.
Eligible homes
The home must be:
- located in New South Wales
- fixed to your land
- suitable as a place of residence, and
- owned, or will be owned, by you (both dwelling and land).
A home is only eligible to receive the HomeBuilder Grant once.
Eligible contracts signed between 4 June and 31 December 2020
A $25,000 HomeBuilder Grant is available for one of the following contracts signed between 4 June 2020 and 31 December 2020(inclusive):
- a comprehensive home building contract to build a new home as your principal place of residence where the value (house and land) does not exceed $750,000 (inclusive of GST)
- a contract with a registered builder to substantially renovate your principal place of residence where the renovation contract is between $150,000 and $750,000 (inclusive of GST), and where the value of your existing house and land does not exceed $1.5 million. If you own a property (house and land) and demolish the house to rebuild, or your home was destroyed during the 2019/20 NSW bushfires, these will be treated as a substantial renovation, subject to the same values.
Note: For a demolition and rebuild to be treated under the substantial renovation category, both the demolition and rebuild must occur on or after 4 June 2020. If the demolition occurred before 4 June 2020 (i.e the property is vacant land as at that date), the contract to build will be treated under the comprehensive home building contract category.
- a contract to purchase an off the plan home/new home as your principal place of residence where the contract price does not exceed $750,000 (inclusive of GST) and construction had not commenced prior to 4 June 2020.
In all cases, construction cannot have commenced before 4 June 2020.
Construction must be undertaken by a registered or licenced building service `contractor’ who is named as a builder on the building licence or permit. Where an eligible contract is signed between 4 June 2020 and 28 November 2020, the registered builder or developer must have a valid licence or registration before 4 June 2020. Where an eligible contract is signed between 29 November 2020 and 31 December 2020, the registered builder or developer must have a valid licence or registration before 29 November 2020. In all cases, a valid copy of the builder’s licence or registration needs to be provided to the applicant showing a licence or registration date. A copy of the builder’s licence or registration will need to be provided as part of your supporting documentation for the HomeBuilder Grant.
Eligible Contracts signed between 1 January 2021 and 31 March 2021
A $15,000 HomeBuilder Grant is available for one of the following contracts signed between 1 January 2021 and 31 March 2021 (inclusive):
- a comprehensive home building contract to build a new home as your principal place of residence where the value (house and land) does not exceed $950,000 (inclusive of GST)
- a contract with a registered builder to substantially renovate your principal place of residence where the renovation contract is between $150,000 and $750,000 (inclusive of GST), and where the value of your existing house and land does not exceed $1.5 million. If you own a property (house and land) and demolish the house to rebuild, or your home was destroyed during the 2019/20 NSW bushfires, these will be treated as a substantial renovation, subject to the same values.
Note: For a demolition and rebuild to be treated under the substantial renovation category, both the demolition and rebuild must occur on or after 4 June 2020. If the demolition occurred before 4 June 2020 (i.e the property is vacant land as at that date), the contract to build will be treated under the comprehensive home building contract category.
- a contract to purchase an off the plan home/new home as your principal place of residence where the contract price does not exceed $950,000 (inclusive of GST) and construction had not commenced prior to 4 June 2020.
In all cases, construction cannot have commenced before 4 June 2020.
Construction must be undertaken by a registered or licenced building service `contractor’ who is named as a builder on the building licence or permit. Whether the contract is with a licenced or registered builder or developer, they must have held their licence or registration prior to 29 November 2020. In all cases, a valid copy of the builder’s licence or registration needs to be provided to the applicant showing a licence or registration date prior to 29 November 2020. A copy of the builder’s licence or registration will need to be provided as part of your supporting documentation for the HomeBuilder Grant.
Owner-builders are not eligible for HomeBuilder. An owner-builder means the person who takes legal responsibility for domestic building work carried out on their own land/property. Owner-builders therefore do not enter into an eligible HomeBuilder contract.
For off the plan home/new home contracts, construction can have commenced prior to the date of the sales contract, but not before 4 June 2020. You must also be registered on the certificate of title as the owner of the property by no later than 30 April 2023.
In negotiating the contract, the parties must deal with each other at arm’s length. This means the contract must be made by two parties freely and independently of each other and without some special relationship, such as being a relative. The terms of the contract should be commercially reasonable, and the contract price should not be inflated or deflated compared to the fair market price.
If you have entered into a contract on or after 4 June 2020 that replaces a contract made prior to 4 June 2020 to build the same or substantially similar home, you may not be eligible to receive the HomeBuilder Grant.
Construction must commence within 18 months of the contract date.
When construction is considered to have commenced will depend on the type of contract that you enter into:
| For new builds |
commencement excavation and site preparation works
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| For a substantial renovation |
when the works under the renovation contract commence
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| For an off-the-plan build |
commencement excavation and site preparation works
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Eligible substantial renovations
Substantial renovation can be either:
- substantially altering the existing dwelling, or
- demolishing your home and building a new home on the land.
Note: For a demolition and rebuild to be treated under the substantial renovation category, both the demolition and rebuild must occur on or after 4 June 2020. If the demolition occurred before 4 June 2020 (i.e. the property is vacant land as at that date), the contract to build will be treated under the comprehensive home building contract category.
To be considered substantial:
- the renovation does not need to involve the removal or replacement of foundations, external walls, interior supporting walls, floors, roof or staircases).
- However, it should improve the accessibility, safety or liveability of the property,
Given these requirements, a substantial renovation does not generally include:
- stand-alone granny flats, swimming pools, tennis courts, and structures not connected to the building such as outdoor spas, saunas, sheds or stand-alone garages; or
- renovations that are primarily cosmetic in purpose such as landscaping, painting or recarpeting.
Bushfire affected properties
If your home was destroyed in the 2019/20 NSW Bushfires, and you are rebuilding on your existing land, your application will be considered as a Substantial Renovation.
The 2019/20 NSW Bushfires are defined as:
To assist applicants who have been affected by Bushfires, Revenue NSW will accept in place of a valuation from a bank or licenced independent valuer, the latest available land valuation issued by the NSW Valuer General. This may be accessed from the Valuer General website for free.
In addition to the above we would also require bushfire affected applicants to provide evidence that their home was bushfire affected, such as a letter from their insurance company to show that their home was affected by a natural disaster or other evidence provided by a Government Agency to support the home was bushfire affected.
Valuing Farming Property
Where the land or property subject of the HomeBuilder application is a farming property, the Commonwealth is supportive of the states and territories adopting a practical approach that only takes into account the value of the house/dwelling that is situated on the farming property.
Accordingly, for owners of genuine farm land who reside on their land, where the valuation of their entire property (house and land) would likely exceed the relevant HomeBuilder property value cap, they can provide the following alternative documents as part of their application:
- an independent valuation of the house/dwelling only on the basis of its replacement cost/value and the rate notice for the land, or
- relevant insurance documents showing the insured replacement value of the dwelling and the rate notice for the land.
If you want your property valued on the above basis, you should provide a brief covering letter as part of your supporting documents that confirms your property is a genuine farming property. Such matters will be considered on a case by case basis and we may request additional documents from an applicant in order to determine whether the farming property meets the relevant HomeBuilder property value cap.
