Queensland $15,000 first-home buyer construction grant gets new name after less than “great start”

The Queensland government has officially renamed its $15,000 first-home owner construction grant (FHOCG) the 'great start grant' without noting the irony.

Just 126 first-home buyers have taken advantage of the FHOCG since it was launched on September 12 last year, replacing the $7,000 first home-buyer grant that was available to first-time buyers of both new and existing homes.

Last week Terry Ryder launched a scathing attack on the Queensland government’s first-home buyer incentives calling them a “new definition of insanity”.

“The government’s solution is to keep the scheme unchanged but to rebrand it.

“I’m an optimist by nature but I despair of politicians ever understanding real estate or implementing measures that genuinely help the industry.

“The Queensland flop continues a long history of failure by government grant schemes for housing. Despite the low success rate, governments continue to offer small sums of money to first-time buyers and wonder why it never works," Ryder wrote.

The great start grant is available for first-home buyers buying or building a new home valued under $750,000.