Changes to the New Home Grant

From 1 July 2014, the NSW State Budget announced several changes to the New Home Grant scheme.

The following changes apply to agreements for sale or transfers made on or after 1 July 2014:

• The New Home Grant will only be available to purchasers (including transferees) who are Australian citizens, Australian residents or an Australian-owned body.
• The grant is only available to one purchaser per financial year. If a purchaser receives a grant for a transaction which occurred in a financial year commencing 1 July, the purchaser will not be eligible for a further grant on another transaction in that financial year.
• The requirement to process a New Home Grant off the plan application within three months of the date of execution of the agreement for sale or transfer (where there is no agreement) has been removed.

All other eligibility requirements for the New Home Grant prior to the amendments still apply to contracts dated on or after 1 July 2014.

For agreements or transfers executed on or after 1 July 2014, there will be a new application form for New Home Grant transactions. This will be available at www.osr.nsw.gov.au from 1 July 2014.

You will need to ensure that you have all of the required evidentiary documents when processing a New Home Grant application.