Good news comes in the shape of delays to FHOG changes: David Airey

The delay in changes to the first-home owners grant (FHOG) is good news for many buyers.

Legislative changes to the distribution of the FHOG were anticipated to take effect last Sunday, however, the Western Australian parliament has not yet passed the necessary bill.

The state government announced changes to the FHOG in the August budget and was aiming for 15 September as the change-over date, but parliament has not yet fully processed this legislation so the change now looks like happening in October.

This is good news for the 70% of first-home buyers who preferred to purchase existing, older homes rather than building new.

Currently first-home buyers are eligible for a grant of $7,000 whether they buy an established home or build a new one. However, once the FHOG change takes effect the grant will drop to $3,000 for established homes and lift to $10,000 for new-builds.

The current delay in the change means that first-home buyers looking for an established property have a few more weeks to access the higher grant and, conversely, those who want to buy a block and build will be likely tohold back until the grant lifts to $10,000.