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Posted: 2023-03-26 06:18:12

The Australian dream of owning a home is in sight for Michael Thompson, with the finishing touches being put on his South Australian house.

The milestone had been overshadowed by his disappointment at missing the deadline to secure his $25,000 HomeBuilder grant from the Australian government by a matter of days.

That all changed on Sunday when federal Housing Minister Julie Collins announced the government would work with the states and territories to extend the deadline for people to submit their paperwork. 

The deadline was originally April 30 and will now be pushed out to June 30, 2025.

For Mr Thompson, it is a massive relief — not having a completion certificate from his builder was holding up him receiving the funds.

"On Thursday I was sure that I wasn't going to get it [the grant], so to now find out that we will get it, it is a massive relief," he said.

The prospect of not securing the grant when so close to the finish line was frustrating.

"It's almost done, that would have been the heartbreaking thing," Mr Thompson said.

"They have started doing painting and the final touches.

"I had almost resigned myself to the fact that I was going to miss out by possibly a matter of days and that would have been terrible."

Australians took advantage of assistance

The HomeBuilder initiative was introduced by the federal government during the COVID pandemic and have been administered by the states and territories.

To receive a $25,000 grant, people had to meet strict criteria, including:

  • Spend between $150,000 and $750,000 renovating a home or building a new home
  • Sign a contract between June 4 and December 31, 2020
  • Be the registered owner on the title.
  • The home must be their principal place of residence when completed or settled

The scheme was then extended, with the government offering a $15,000 grant for eligible contracts signed between January 1 and March 31, 2021.

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