First Home Owner Grant and Shared Equity Act 2000

This Act is the First Home Owner Grant and Shared Equity Act 2000.

This Act commences on 1 July 2000.

In this Act—

administration of this Act or a corresponding law includes the execution and enforcement of this Act or the corresponding law.

administration agreement means an agreement under section 32.

Australian citizen has the same meaning as in the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 of the Commonwealth.

authorised investigation—see section 34.

authorised officer means a person referred to in section 33 (1) or a person appointed to be an authorised officer under section 33 (2).

building includes part of a building.

Chief Commissioner means the Chief Commissioner of State Revenue.

commencement date of an eligible transaction—see section 13 (4).

completed—for completion of an eligible transaction, see section 13 (5).

comprehensive home building contract means a contract under which a builder undertakes to build a home on land from the inception of the building work to the point where the home is ready for occupation and if, for any reason, the work to be carried out under such a contract is not completed, includes any further contract under which the work is to be completed.

consideration for an eligible transaction—see section 13 (7).

corresponding law means an Act of another State, or a Territory, corresponding to this Act.

eligibility cap—see section 13A.

eligibility criteria means the criteria for determining whether an applicant for a first home owner grant is eligible for the grant (see Division 2 of Part 2).

eligible transaction—see section 13 (1).

exercise a function includes perform a duty.

first home owner grant means a first home owner grant authorised under this Act.

first home owner grant scheme means the scheme for payment of first home owner grants established under this Act.

function includes a power, authority or duty.

guardian of a person under a legal disability includes a trustee who holds property on trust for the person under an instrument of trust or by order or direction of a court or tribunal.

home—see section 4.

multiple occupancy contract—see section 6A.

multiple occupancy land—see section 6B.

new home—see section 4A.

option to purchase includes a right of preemption or a right of first refusal.

owner—

in relation to a home, has the meaning given by section 5 (1), and

in relation to land, means a person who has a relevant interest in the land.

owner builder means an owner of land who builds a home, or has a home built, on the land without entering into a comprehensive home building contract.

permanent resident means—

the holder of a permanent visa within the meaning of section 30 of the Migration Act 1958 of the Commonwealth, or

a New Zealand citizen who holds a special category visa within the meaning of section 32 of the Migration Act 1958 of the Commonwealth.

property means—

a home, or

land, or

a relevant interest in land.

relevant interest—see section 5 (2), (3) and (4).

residence requirement—see section 12.

residential property—land in Australia is residential property at a particular time if there is, at that time, a building on the land lawfully occupied as a place of residence or suitable for occupation as a place of residence.

spouse—see section 6.

taxation law means a law for the assessment or imposition of a tax.

terms contract means a contract for the sale or purchase of land under which the purchaser—

is obliged to make 2 or more payments to the vendor after the execution of the contract and before becoming entitled to a conveyance or transfer of the land, and

is entitled to possession or occupation of the land before becoming entitled to a conveyance or transfer of the land.

total value of a transaction—see section 13B.

Note.

The Interpretation Act 1987 contains definitions and other provisions that affect the interpretation and application of this Act.

Notes included in this Act do not form part of this Act.

A home is a building (affixed to land) that—

may lawfully be used as a place of residence, and

is, in the Chief Commissioner’s opinion, a suitable building for use as a place of residence.

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.

A substantially renovated home is a home that—

has been created through renovations in which all, or substantially all, of a building is removed or replaced (whether or not the renovations involve the removal or replacement of foundations, external walls, interior supporting walls, floors or staircases), and

as renovated, has not been previously occupied or sold as a place of residence.

A home is a home built to replace demolished premises if—

the home has been built to replace demolished premises on the same land, and

the home, as built to replace the demolished premises, has not been previously occupied or sold as a place of residence, and

the owner of the home did not occupy the demolished premises as a place of residence before they were demolished.

A person is an owner of a home or a home owner if the person has a relevant interest in land on which a home is built.

Each of the following is, subject to subsection (3), a relevant interest in land—

an estate in fee simple in the land,

a life estate in the land approved by the Chief Commissioner,

a perpetual lease of the land granted by the Commonwealth or the State,

a leasehold interest in the land granted by the Commonwealth or the State that may be converted under the terms of the lease or by statute into an estate in fee simple,

an interest as purchaser under a contract for the purchase from the Commonwealth or the State of an estate in fee simple in the land by instalments,

an interest as purchaser of an estate in fee simple under a terms contract,

a licence or right of occupancy granted by the Commonwealth or the State in relation to the land that gives, in the Chief Commissioner’s opinion, the licensee or the holder of the right reasonable security of tenure,

an interest in a company’s shares or in units in a unit trust scheme, if the Chief Commissioner is satisfied that—

the interest entitles the holder of the interest to exclusive occupation of a specified home situated on the land and owned by the company or trustees, and

the value of the shares is not less than the value of the company’s or trustees’ interest in the home.

Subject to sections 6C and 6D—

an interest is not a relevant interest at a particular time unless the holder of the interest has, or will have within 12 months after that time (or a longer time allowed by the Chief Commissioner), a right to immediate occupation of the land, and

an interest is not a relevant interest in the hands of a person who holds it subject to a trust.

(Repealed)

If a person holds an interest in land on trust as guardian for a person under a legal disability and that interest would be a relevant interest but for subsection (3) (b), then for the purposes of this Act—

the person under the legal disability is taken to be the person who holds a relevant interest in the land, and

the guardian is taken not to hold that interest.

In this section—

unit in a unit trust scheme means—

a right or interest (whether described as a unit or a sub-unit or otherwise) of a beneficiary under the scheme, or

a right to any such right or interest.

unit trust scheme means any arrangements made for the purpose, or having the effect, of providing facilities for persons participating in the arrangements, as beneficiaries under a trust, for occupying any property pursuant to the trust.

A person is the spouse of another person if, on the commencement date of the eligible transaction—

they are legally married, or

the person is the de facto partner of the other person.

Note.

“De facto partner” is defined in section 21C of the Interpretation Act 1987.

A person to whom an applicant for a first home owner grant is legally married is not to be regarded as the applicant’s spouse if the Chief Commissioner is satisfied that—

the applicant was not cohabiting with the person on the commencement date of the eligible transaction, and

at the time of deciding the application, the applicant is not cohabiting with the person and has no intention of resuming cohabitation.

For the purposes of this Act—

a contract for the purchase of a home is a multiple occupancy contract if 2 or more homes are purchased under the contract and the homes are on the same parcel of land, and

a comprehensive home building contract is a multiple occupancy contract if 2 or more homes are to be built under the contract and the homes are on the same parcel of land.

The provisions of this Act apply in respect of a multiple occupancy contract as if a separate contract had been made in respect of each home purchased or built under the contract that is an exclusive occupancy.

Accordingly, each of those contracts may, subject to the requirements of section 13, be treated as a separate eligible transaction under this Act and section 7 (4) does not prevent the payment of a grant in respect of each such eligible transaction.

A home is an exclusive occupancy only if the Chief Commissioner is satisfied that the purchaser of the home or the party to the contract for whom the home is built is, on the completion of the contract, entitled to occupy that home as a place of residence to the exclusion of the persons who purchase the other homes, or for whom the other homes are built, under the contract.

For the purposes of this Act, a parcel of land is multiple occupancy land if there are 2 or more homes, built or being built, on the parcel.

The provisions of this Act apply in respect of the purchase or building of a home on multiple occupancy land as if the home purchased or built is an exclusive occupancy.

A home is an exclusive occupancy only if the Chief Commissioner is satisfied that the persons who occupy the home as a place of residence are entitled to do so to the exclusion of the persons who occupy the other home or homes on the parcel of land.

If a person enters into a comprehensive building contract to build, or builds or has built, a free-standing home on land in which the person does not have a relevant interest, the provisions of this Act apply in respect of the building of the free-standing home as if the person did have such a relevant interest.

If a person enters into a comprehensive building contract to build, or builds or has built, at the person’s own expense, an attached home on land in which the person does not have a relevant interest, the provisions of this Act apply in respect of the building of the attached home as if the person did have such a relevant interest.

Accordingly, a person may apply for a first home owner grant in respect of the building of such an attached home or free-standing home.

This section applies in respect of the building of a home only if the owner of the estate in fee simple in the land on which the home is built has consented to the occupation of the home by the applicant for the first home owner grant on completion of the home or the applicant has a right, under a lease, licence or other arrangement, to occupy the home on completion.

In this section—

attached home means a home which includes a kitchen, a bathroom, a living area and a bedroom or a combined bedroom living area and which is part of, or connected to, a building that contains another home.

free-standing home means a home that is not part of, or connected to, a building that contains another home.

If a person purchases a manufactured home and intends to use it as a place of residence on land which the person has a right to occupy under a lease, licence or other arrangement but in which the person does not have a relevant interest—

this Act applies as if the person had a relevant interest in the land and were an owner builder building a home on the land, and

the commencement date of the transaction is taken to be the date of the contract to purchase the manufactured home, and

the transaction is taken to be completed when the manufactured home is ready for occupation as a place of residence on land that the person has a right to occupy.

In this section—

manufactured home has the same meaning as it has in the Local Government Act 1993.

A first home owner grant is payable on an application under this Act if—

the applicant or, if there are 2 or more of them, each of the applicants complies with the eligibility criteria, and

the transaction for which the grant is sought—

is an eligible transaction, and

has been completed, and

the total value of the transaction does not exceed the eligibility cap for the type of first home owner grant that is available in respect of that transaction.

(Repealed)

An applicant need not comply with the eligibility criteria to the extent the applicant is exempted from compliance with the eligibility criteria by this Act.

A first home owner grant is payable before completion of the relevant eligible transaction if payment is authorised under section 20.

Only one first home owner grant is payable for the same eligible transaction.