First Home Owner Grant and Shared Equity Act 2000

An applicant for a first home owner grant must—

commence occupation of the home to which the application relates as the applicant’s principal place of residence within 12 months after completion of the eligible transaction or the period approved by the Chief Commissioner under this section, and

occupy the home as a principal place of residence for a continuous period of at least 12 months or the period approved by the Chief Commissioner under this section.

This requirement is referred to in this Act as the residence requirement.

The Chief Commissioner may, if satisfied there are good reasons to do so, do either or both of the following—

approve the commencement of occupation by the applicant of the home to which the application relates as a principal place of residence more than 12 months after completion of the eligible transaction,

approve the occupation of the home as a principal place of residence for a period of less than 12 months.

The Chief Commissioner may, if satisfied there are good reasons to do so, exempt an applicant from the residence requirement.

An approval or exemption under this section may be given by the Chief Commissioner at any time, even if the period of 12 months after completion of the eligible transaction has already expired or the applicant’s occupation of the home as a principal place of residence has already ceased.

If an application is made by joint applicants and at least one (but not all) of the applicants complies with the residence requirement, the non-complying applicant or applicants are exempted from compliance with the residence requirement.