Don't forget about the $2,000 Home Buyers Assistance Account

If you're a first home buyer, you're probably well aware of the $10,000 First Home Owners Grant for newly built properties, but did you know about the Home Buyers Assistance Account?

What is the Home Buyers Assistance Account?

Usually paid around eight weeks after settlement, this scheme provides up to $2,000 towards incidental expenses when first home owners purchase an established or partly built home through a licensed real estate agent.

These incidental expenses include things like mortgage registration fees, solicitor and/or conveyancing fees, valuation fees, inspection fees, establishment fees, mortgage insurance premiums and lending institution fees associated with the purchase of your first home.

Conditions of eligibility include:

• The price of the dwelling must be within the maximum price limit for dwellings purchased in Western Australia. The price limit relates to the total price of the dwelling and not the percentage of the applicant’s purchase. The current prescribed limit is $400,000.
• The applicant must not own or have previously owned a dwelling in WA. If one of the applicants owns or has owned a dwelling in WA, then a partial grant may be made to the first home buyer applicant equal to the percentage of their interest in the dwelling (provided all other criteria are satisfied).
• The dwelling must have been purchased through a licensed real estate agency carrying on business in WA.
• The dwelling purchased must be financed by a lending institution which is also required to lodge the application on behalf of the applicant.
• The dwelling must be established or partially built at the time of acceptance of the contract to purchase, not a plan to build a dwelling.
• The dwelling purchased must be the applicant's principal place of residence.
• The applicant intends to live in the home for at least the first 12 months, meaning the home cannot be rented out during this time. If there is an existing fixed term tenancy agreement in place at the time of purchasing the dwelling, the tenancy agreement must finish within six months from the settlement date and the applicant has to intend to live in the premises for at least 12 months after the expiry of the tenancy agreement. The existing tenancy agreement cannot be extended or a new lease agreement put in place. In the case of an existing periodic tenancy agreement, required written notice has to be given by the lessor.
• The application should be lodged no more than 90 days after the date on which the offer to purchase the dwelling was accepted. In exceptional circumstances a late lodgement may be allowed if reasonable grounds exist to justify it.

First home buyers are an active force in the WA property market, so it would be a pity if some were missing out on government help because they weren't aware it was available.

Want to understand more about buying your first home? View REIWA's WA first home buyer guide.

For full details or to apply, view the Consumer Protection's guidance notes for first home buyers or visit the Consumer Protection  section of the Department of Commerce's website.