There are a lot of schemes which the Government keep on rolling out to ease out the financial burden of buying a home. If you are a first home buyer, this is a must read for you.

Under the First Home Buyer Assistance scheme (FHBAS), a first home buyer may get a concessional rate of transfer duty or even an exemption from paying the duty altogether.

It is different from the First Home Owner Grant.

The FHBAS applies to:

• buying an existing home
• buying a new home and
• vacant land on which you intend to build a home.

The NSW Government recently announced increased thresholds for purchases of new homes and vacant land to build a new home from 1 August 2020.  The threshold for existing home purchases remains unchanged.

Below is the new thresholds from 1 August 2020 to 31 July 2021:

• The contract date must be on or after 1 July 2017 and must be for the whole property.
  Note: To be eligible for the increased transfer (stamp) duty threshold available between 1 August 2020 and 31 July 2021, the contract date must be on or after 1 August 2020 and on or before 31 July 2021.
• You must be an individual, not a company or trust.
• You must be over 18 years of age.
• You, and your spouse or partner, must never have owned or co-owned residential property in Australia.
• You, and your spouse or partner, must never have received an exemption or concession under this scheme.
• At least one of the first home buyers must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

You or one of the other first home buyers must

• move into the new home within 12 months after buying the property and
• live there for at least six continuous months.
  Note: If you’re a member of the Australian Defence Force when buying your first home and you and everyone you’re buying with is on the NSW electoral roll, you won’t have to meet these living requirements.

A new home is a home that has not been previously occupied or sold as a place of residence and includes a substantially renovated home and a home built to replace demolished premises.