The Federal Government yesterday announced the extension and expansion of the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme. The scheme will be extended from 6 October 2020 through to 30 June 2021, with another 10,000 grants available to support a deposit for first home buyers to build a new home, or buy a newly built home.

There will also be change to price caps for these grants, in Melbourne and regional centres the maximum price for eligibility will rise from $600,000 to $850,000, while for the rest of the state price cap increases from $375,000 to $550,000.

If eligible, this grant can be paired with the HomeBuilder grant, or other Victorian government grants.  

When the scheme commenced, more than half of the 10,000 places were filled in the first six weeks.  

Read the full media release here, full information on registration for the scheme can be found here. 

Master Builders Victoria  CEO Rebecca Casson said that the extension and expansion of the scheme is sorely needed in Victoria.

“The scaling back of our industry in Victoria, combined with the overall economic slowdown has had a huge impact on the pipeline of projects going into 2021, and will hamper the recovery lead our industry has been able to proactively take.”  

“Today’s announcement helps incentivise activity and is what residential builders will need to fill that pipeline. The timelines illustrate the need for continued stimulus action through 2021, and how a similar extension and expansion of HomeBuilder is needed in Victoria too.”

Cap Changes