18 May 2009

Permanent Australian visa holders get First Home Owner Boost Scheme extension

People emigrating to Australia on a permanent Australian visa have another six months' opportunity to get the First Home Owners Boost Scheme.

The Australian government gives first home owners grants of $7,000 to permanent Australian visa holders or Australian citizens to help offset the duty paid towards buying property.  For some time now, the government has also been running the First Home Owners Boost Scheme that enabled first home buyers to score a much larger grant ($21,000) from the government if they met certain requirements.

The Boost Scheme was supposed to finish in June, meaning that Australian citizens and all those emigrating to Australia on permanent Australian visas would no longer have access to the $21,000 grant.  However, according to i-newswire, the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has delayed the downsizing of the scheme to October 2009, whereby the grant will reach only as high as $14,000.   In December 2009, the First Home Owners Boost Scheme will cease to operate.

Fortunately, the First Home Owner Grant scheme will continue past December, allowing permanent Australian visa holders to still apply for $7,000 towards their first property purchase in Australia.

Economist for Australian Property Monitors, Matthew Bell said: "First Home Buyers now have some extra time to consider their potential purchase of a home to take advantage of the Boost.

"As always, first home buyers should carefully take into account their ability to meet mortgage payments in the future when interest rates inevitably rise, as well as their employment situation in a tough economy," added Mr Bell.

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The Australian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people with emigrating to Australia.