First homeowners plead for extension as government grant comes to an end

First homebuyers who've waited two years for paperwork to go through say they feel let down by federal and state governments as the HomeBuilder grant comes to an end next month.

Sydney resident Lauren, 33, is calling for an extension to the scheme after she purchased a new off-the-plan apartment two years ago, thinking she would get a $25,000 headstart on owning her own place through HomeBuilder.

"(It's) really a life-changing amount of money, especially for someone like me to get into their own place," Lauren said.

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But she's still waiting on the occupier's certificate for the unfinished apartment, which means she could end up thousands of dollars out-of-pocket when the scheme wraps up on April 1.

Her apartment was supposed to be finished in June last year, but then the due date was extended by 12 months.

Because she can't get the occupier's certificate until it's finished, she will miss out on the $25,000 towards her home.

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Brisbane woman Heather is also calling for a scheme extension while living in a rental and eating into her savings.

She's also been waiting for her home to be completed and will also take a $25,000 hit when the scheme ends.

"These grants are being pulled out from under us, even though we qualified for it," Heather said.

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The HomeBuilder grant was introduced by the former Coalition federal government in June 2020 but is administered by the state and territory governments.

It was introduced to prop up the building industry and help low- and middle-income earners to break into the property market.

But homeowners say they feel abandoned by both their state government - responsible for the administration side of the grant - and the new Labor federal government - which has allowed the scheme to come to an end so soon.

Heather said she was so concerned over the scheme coming to an end that she emailed Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and six MPs.

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So far, she's only heard back from three MPs.

When the HomeBuilder scheme started, the federal treasury forecast 27,000 grants would be approved at a cost of $678 million.

But two years later, 100,214 grants had been approved, costing $2.3 billion.

A review found HomeBuilder has also added to inflationary pressures, which isn't making things any easier for Lauren and Heather.

But despite their pleas, the federal government won't budge and has refused to extend the deadline.

You can get in touch with property advocate Jason Salter here.

Statement by a spokesperson for the Minister for Housing:

The Minister for Housing is working with state and territory governments on issues across the housing system, including the Homebuilder program, to help fix the former Liberal National Government's mess.

The former Liberal National Government completely mismanaged the HomeBuilder program.

A report from the Department of Treasury found HomeBuilder overheated the residential construction industry, resulting in land, material and labour supply issues.

The total cost of HomeBuilder has blown out from $680 million to more than $2.3 billion.

In contrast, the Albanese Government has a responsible plan to improve the long-term resilience of Australia's residential construction sector and ensure more Australians have a safe place to call home.