4
FIND GEELONG | OCTOBER 2020
findgeelong.com.au
Another 10,000 Places for First Home Buyers By Warren Strybosch
Under the First Home Loan Deposit New Home Guarantee Scheme (FHLDS), a further 10,000 places have been which will help first home buyers enter the property market. One of the measures announced by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, as part of the 2020-2021 Budget, was the commitment to make available an additional 10,000 places under the popular First Home Loan Deposit Scheme (FHLDS). This now doubles the total amount of places originally made available this financial year from 10,000 spots to 20,000 spots. Let’s hope these measures continue so that other first home buyers can gain access to this scheme. To access this scheme, first home buyers will be means tested and need to have demonstrated a level of savings (refer below). What the FHLDS New Home Guarantee entails The National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) has now released further details of the additional spots. The additional scheme allocations are available to first home buyers that are Australian citizens, 18 years and over, and wish to build a new dwelling or purchase a newly built dwelling with a deposit of between 5 and 20 per cent of the property’s value. It is not available for those wishing to purchase an investment property. • •
According to the NHFIC, eligible properties include: newly constructed dwellings (e.g. whether a freestanding house, townhouse or apartment)
• • •
off-the-plan dwellings (e.g. whether a freestanding house, townhouse or apartment) house and land packages land and a separate contract to build a new home.
The FHLDS NHG is only available to first home buyers who have a taxable income of up to $125,000 per annum for the previous financial year (if applying as a single applicant) or a combined taxable income of up to $200,000 per annum (if applying as a couple). A revised set of property price caps also apply for eligible properties under the NHG. They are as follows: Region
NHG Property Price Cap
NSW - Capital City and Regional Centre
$950,000
NSW - Other
$600,000
Vic - Capital City and Regional Centre
$850,000
Vic - Other
$550,000
Qld - Capital City and Regional Centre
$650,000
Qld - Other
$500,000
WA - Capital City
$550,000
WA - Other
$400,000
SA - Capital City
$550,000
SA - Other
$400,000
Tas - Capital City
$450,000
Tas - Other
$400,000
ACT
$600,000
Northern Territory
$550,000
Jervis Bay Territory & Norfolk Island
$600,000
Christmas Island & Cocos (Keeling Island)
$400,000
