$25K grant ‘bottleneck’ could stop dream home construction

The HomeBuilders grant has created an influx of people looking to build a house in Mackay, with inquiries doubling

Cartoonist Harry Bruce's take on the HomeBuilders grants cut off date.

THE $25,000 HomeBuilders grant has created an influx of people looking to build a house in Mackay.

But with work needing to commence within three months of signing a building contract, there might be a "bottleneck" looming as people rush to get finance approval before the grant expires on December 31, a Mackay builder warns.

Fergus Builders director and residential projects manager Nathan Borg said their inquiries had doubled since the HomeBuilder grant was announced.

"A lot of those are turning into contracts," Mr Borg said.

"We've got jobs starting one after the other at the moment.

"But they're all obviously finance pending."

 

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Mr Borg said finance approvals were taking longer with more people seeking finance which was putting pressure on getting drawings, engineering and council approvals all completed within the three months.

Fergus Builders director and residential projects manager Nathan Borg with director and construction manager Ben Hilder. Picture: Contributed

"I think they (the government) should look at possibly extending it to a six month start period," Mr Fergus said.

Master Builders deputy CEO Paul Bidwill said finance approvals to purchase residential land had risen by 64.6 per cent over August.

And the total number of housing loans had surged by almost a third, Mr Bidwill said.

But he said the HomeBuilder grant rules should be changed to allow new home buyers, or those looking to build or renovate, to use the $25,000 towards their deposits.

"As we understand, this wasn't the original intention of the grant when announced by the Federal Government and we're currently working with government and lenders to get this changed," Mr Bidwill said.

"What we don't want to see is signed building contracts falling over when owners fail to secure finance.

"With the pandemic continuing, we believe there's a strong case for extending the grant."

 

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Mr Borg echoed the call for the grant to be extended.

"If anyone is considering building, they should be taking advantage of it while it's on offer," he said. .

"It's probably a once in a lifetime opportunity.

"You'd be mad to miss out."

For more information on the HomeBuilder grant, visit www.qld.gov.au/housing/buying-owning-home/financial-help-concessions/homebuilder