The most basic eligibility criteria to get a First Home Owners Grant or FHOG are pretty simple. You need to be an Australian citizen or permanent resident buying or building a new residential property (the grant for established homes has recently been scraped off the WA budget) for the first time.
Beyond these eligibility points, you need to satisfy some requirements to receive the grant successfully, and one of these necessities involve residing in the property that you will be building. According to the Office of State Revenue, “Each applicant must occupy the home being purchased or built as their principal place of residence for a continuous period of at least six months, commencing within twelve months of completion of the eligible transaction.”
What Does This Mean?
In simple terms, you should have the intention to live in the house you’re purchasing and realise those plans within a year after construction is finished. The house should be your principal residence, which can be determined by several factors, such as sleeping, eating, entertaining guests, and using basic utilities in the property.
