Purchasing a Home in Victoria; What Support is Available

Moremac’s seven projects throughout Victoria offer the perfect opportunity for first home buyers to enter the property market, providing established communities in family friendly locations in Melbourne’s surrounding suburbs.

Date

31.10.2024

Author

Moremac Property Group

First home buyers haved secure land with Moremac in Point Lonsdale, Deanside, Sunbury, Donnybrook, Berwick, Clyde North and Cranbourne East.

A number of those purchasers have taken advantage of the various government initiatives to get them over the final hurdle and onto the path of building their dream homes.

At a State Government level in Victoria, two key initiatives exist from the State Government available specifically for first home buyers.

Victoria First Home Owner Grant

Victorians may be eligible to receive $10,000 to build a new home valued up to $750,000. The criteria to receive the grant includes being aged 18 years and over, and hold an Australian citizenship or permanent residency (or applying with someone who holds either of these).

The grant is not available to previous recipients, owners of a home or other residential property in Australia prior to 1 July 2000. However previous owners who purchased property on or after 1 July 2000 and have not lived there as your home may still be eligible.

Additional exemptions and concessions are also available to Victorians, including;

  • First-home buyer duty exemption or concession – a one-off duty exemption for a principal place of residence (PPR) valued up to $600,000, or a concession for a PPR with a dutiable value from $600,001 to $750,000. This duty exemption or concession is separate from the First Home Owner Grant. The grant is a payment made to the purchaser, whereas the first home buyer duty exemption and concession is a reduction in the amount of land transfer duty you pay. 
  • Off-the-plan concession – a duty concession for an off-the-plan property, either as a land and building package, or as a refurbished lot.
  • Pensioner concession – a one-off duty exemption or concession for a new or established home valued up to $750,000.
  • Principal place of residence (PPR) concession – a duty concession for when a property you buy, valued up to $550,000, is intended as your primary home.

Further information on support available for Victorians is available at the State Revenue Office website.

At a Federal Government level, additional support also exists.

Australian Government’s Home Guarantee Scheme

Support for purchasing a home is available through the Federal Government’s Home Guarantee Scheme (HGS) which exists to support eligible home buyers to buy a home sooner. The Scheme is administered by Housing Australia on behalf of the Australian Government.

Limited spots are available every financial year for each of three guarantees and is facilitated by a panel of 32 participating lenders including the likes of Commonwealth Bank and NAB, along with non-major lenders such as Auswide Bank, Australian Military Bank, Bank Australia, Police Bank, Regional Australia Bank and Indigenous Business Australia.

Usually, home buyers with less than a 20% deposit need to pay lenders mortgage insurance. Under the First Home Guarantee, eligible home buyers can purchase a modest home with a deposit of as little as 5% (lenders criteria apply). This is because Housing Australia guarantees to a participating lender up to 15 percent of the value of the property purchased that is financed by an eligible home buyer’s home loan.

The Scheme includes three types of Guarantees:

  • First Home Guarantee (FHBG) – supporting eligible home buyers to buy a home sooner, with a deposit as little as 5%. For FY2024-25, 35,000 places are available.
  • Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee (RFHBG) - supporting eligible regional home buyers to buy a home sooner, in a regional area, with a deposit as little as 5%. For FY2024-25, 10,000 places are available.
  • Family Home Guarantee (FHG) – supporting eligible single parents and eligible single legal guardians of at least one dependent to buy a home sooner, with a deposit as little as 2%. For FY2024-25, 5,000 places are available.

In 2024, the Federal Government also announced the Help To Buy Program, which will be the first national shared equity scheme of its kind and cut the cost of buying a home by up to 40 per cent.

Help To Buy has not yet launched, however information is available on both initiatives at the Housing Australia website.

Temporary off-the-plan duty concession

In October, the Victorian government announced it’s 12-month program centring around stamp duty concessions for off-the-plan apartments, units and townhouses.

The new concession will be available to all off-the-plan purchases and will allow the purchaser to deduct the construction costs incurred on or after the contract date when determining the dutiable value of the purchaser’s property.

The concession will be available to all purchasers, including investors, companies and trusts, meaning there would be no requirement to be eligible for either the principal place of residence duty concession or the first home buyer duty exemption or concession.

The existing off-the-plan concession for owner-occupiers and first home buyers will continue to apply. For first-home-buyers purchasing a home valued at $600,000 or less, a full exemption from paying stamp duty already exists, this includes house and land packages. Concessions exist for homes purchased above $750,000.

Moremac sales staff are also available to assist in any queries potential first home buyers may have regarding land in its developments.

Projects in Victoria include; 

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