The Queensland Office of State Revenue is now accepting applications for the Commonwealth HomeBuilder grant. Before marketing your off-the-plan development project as “HomeBuilder grant-friendly”, you should consider the following:
1. Who is your builder?
Your builder must be duly registered and licenced prior to 4 June 2020. The date of the contract with your builder is irrelevant for the purposes of the grant.
2. Sale contract of an off-the-plan home
The sale contract must be signed and dated between 4 June 2020 and 31 December 2020 (inclusive), with a sale price of $750,000.00 (including GST) or less but each contract must fall within the construction window below to be eligible for the grant.
3. Commencement of construction
Commencement of construction for an off-the-plan home means commencement of excavation and site preparation work.
Construction:
1. can commence before a contract is signed; but
2. must commence on or after 4 June 2020 for your project to be eligible;
If you are signing up contracts before construction starts, construction must start no later than 3 months after a sale contract is signed for that contract to be eligible. A maximum extension of an additional 3 months may be provided if there is a delay in commencement of construction due to unforeseen factors outside the control of the parties to the contract (e.g. a delay in building or planning approvals). The eligibility for extensions is still a little vague so you will need to exercise caution in this regard.
How we can assist
Shand Taylor Lawyers have extensive experience in acting for developers in a wide range of development projects and have reviewed the HomeBuilder requirements in detail. If you have queries about the eligibility of your current or future development project for HomeBuilder, please contact Patrick Sherlock or Matthew Shannon for advice.
Matthew Shannon, Partner
(07) 3307 4506
Patrick Sherlock, Senior Associate
(07) 3307 4542