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Regional relocation home buyers grant

The Regional Relocation Home Buyers Grant closed on 30 September 2014. Applications and supporting documents for eligible purchases made on or before 30 September 2014 must be made by 31 March 2015.

The Regional Relocation Home Buyers Grant provides a one-off payment of $7,000 to approved applicants to assist with the cost of relocating from a metropolitan area to a regional area.

Eligibility requirements

RequirementDetails
You must be a natural person. Not acting in the capacity as trustee.
You must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident at the date of completion of the regional property purchase or in the case of a long-term lease, the date of commencement of the lease. Where there are multiple applicants, at least one must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

You must have purchased a regional property on or after 1 July 2011 and on or before 30 September 2014 which you are using or that you intend to use as your principal place of residence.

 The value of the regional home must not exceed $600,000 or $450,000 for vacant land. The grant or transfer of a long term lease of a home in a regional area may qualify as a purchase. In this case the incoming contribution must not exceed $600,000.

You must commence residing in the regional property within 12 months from the date of completion of the purchase or commencement date of a long-term lease and reside in the home for a period of at least 12 continuous months.

 If you have purchased vacant land you must commence construction of your home within 6 months and be residing in the home within 12 months of the date of purchase
Either you must have owned and occupied a metropolitan home as your principal place of residence in the 12 months prior to commencing the purchase of your regional property. In this case the metropolitan home must have been sold in the 12 months prior to the purchase of the regional property or will be sold in the 12 months after the purchase (the whole of the property must be sold).
Or you must have been renting a home in a metropolitan area in the 12 months prior to purchasing your regional property and can establish a 2-year continuous rental history in this and other metropolitan homes. This only applies to applicants who commenced the purchase of their regional property on or after 1 January 2014 and on or before 30 September 2014.

Where an application is received on or after 1 January 2014, the regional home must be outside a 100 kilometers radius from the metropolitan home.

  • In the case of an applicant who currently rents a home in the metropolitan area, the distance requirement will be applied to each metropolitan home rented in the 2-year continuous period.
  • From 12 May 2014, relocations may be taken to satisfy the distance requirement if each relevant metropolitan home is outside a 50 kilometres radius from the regional home and no relevant metropolitan home is in a local government area that is adjacent to a local government area in which the regional home is located.

Long-term lease

A lease of land is a long-term lease provided that Revenue NSW is satisfied that the lease gives the lease holder a degree of permanency and security of tenure that is equivalent to ownership.

Normal residential tenancy leases with terms of 6 months to 5 years do not provide this degree of permanency and security of tenure and will not be eligible for the grant.

Long leases, for example in excess of 15 years, where a substantial upfront fee or incoming contribution applies will be considered for the grant.