If you are selling a property with a Swimming Pool or Spa, you must now attach to your Contract for Sale one of the following documents which is less than 3 years old:-
Certificate of Compliance
Relevant Occupation Certificate together with evidence that the pool is registered
Certificate of non-compliance
If you do not attach the correct documentation to your Contract for Sale then the buyer may rescind the Contract within 14 days of exchange, unless settlement has already occurred.
The 29th of April 2016 was the deadline to comply with the additional requirement.
If a Certificate of non-compliance is attached to the Contract, this transfers to the buyer the sellers obligation to obtain a Certificate of Compliance. The buyer has 90 days from the date of settlement to rectify defects listed in the Certificate and obtain a Certificate of Compliance.
If you own a property with a Swimming Pool or Spa you should contact your local council to arrange a compliance inspection, or find a private swimming pool certifier listed on the NSW Swimming Pool Register website.
If you are wanting to buy a new home in 2016, then there may be some property grants that could help you achieve this dream! The year has started with new legislation on how real estate agents can market properties, which is designed to make it easier for you to understand the expected sale price of homes, and interest rates have remained steady at very low rates.
There are currently three grants available in 2016 which you may be eligible for, to help you on your way to buying your first new home, or a brand new investment property.
First Home Buyers who buy a brand new home, or a vacant block of land to build your first home, can apply for free stamp duty, and a $10,000 Grant.
If you are buying a brand new home, or a vacant block of land on which a new home will be built, there is a $5000 New Home Grant – this is available regardless of whether you are buying another home, upgrading, downsizing or buying an investment property.
First Home – New Home scheme Exemption or Concession from Stamp Duty
First Home Buyers purchasing a brand new home under $550,000 can apply for an exemption from Stamp Duty, or if the purchase price is between $550,000 and $650,000 you can apply for a discount on your Stamp Duty.
If you are buying a vacant block of residential land to build your first home for under $350,000 you can apply for an exemption from Stamp Duty, or if the purchase price is between $350,000 and $450,000 you can apply for a discount on your Stamp Duty.
First Home Owner Grant (New Homes) scheme $10,000 Grant
First Home Buyers purchasing a brand new home, or vacant block of residential land to build your first home for under $750,000 can apply for the $10,000 First Home Owner Grant (New Homes).
To be eligible for the “First Home – New Home Scheme”, or “First Home Owner Grant” above:
at least one buyer must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident
the agreement must be for the purchase of the whole property
you must be a natural person (not a company or trust)
you must be over 18 years old
the home is a brand new home
you or your partner have not previously owned property in any form in Australia
at least one purchaser must occupy the home within 12 months and needs to live in the home for a continuous period of at least 6 months.
New Home Grant scheme $5,000 Grant
If you are purchasing a brand new home (including “off the plan”), or vacant land on which a new home will be built then you can apply for the $5,000 New Home Grant. The Grant is paid by reducing your Stamp Duty costs, and if there is any money left over, then this would be paid to you by cheque.
You can apply for the Grant more than once, but it is limited to once per financial year. You can be a natural person, a company or trustee of a trust, and the grant is available to investors as well as owner occupiers.
To be eligible for the New Home Grant:
Applications must be made within 3 months of the date of exchange of Contracts.
The value of the new home must not exceed $650,000 and the value of vacant land must not exceed $450,000.
For vacant land, construction of the home (by way of laying foundations), must commence within 26 weeks after settlement of the purchase. However, there is no limit on the time of construction.
You must be an Australian citizen, Australian resident or an Australian-owned body.
The above information has been simplified to make it easier to understand. There are however, firm requirements that must be met to be eligible for each benefit so if you would like to know more please contact the Office of State Revenue http://www.osr.nsw.gov.au/contact or I would love to hear from you.
2015 is off to a strong start in the property market! Sales are up and interest rates are at a 60 year low. It may be the perfect time for you to start your property portfolio and buy an investment property, or even build your first home.
There are a number of grants that are available in 2015 which you may be eligible for to help you on your way. If you are a First Home Buyer looking to buy a brand new home, or a vacant block of land to build your first home, you can apply for free stamp duty, and a $15,000 Grant. Whether you are upgrading, downsizing or an investor, for people buying a brand new home, or a vacant block of land on which a new home will be built, there is a $5000 New Home Grant available.
First Home – New Home scheme – Exemption or Concession from Stamp Duty First Home Buyers purchasing a brand new home under $550,000 can apply for an exemption from Stamp Duty, or if the purchase price is between $550,000 and $650,000 you can apply for a discount on your Stamp Duty. If you are buying a vacant block of residential land to build your first home for under $350,000 you can apply for an exemption from Stamp Duty, or if the purchase price is between $350,000 and $450,000 you can apply for a discount on your Stamp Duty.
First Home Owner Grant (New Homes) scheme – $15,000 Grant First Home Buyers purchasing a brand new home, or vacant block of residential land to build your first home for under $750,000 can apply for the $15,000 First Home Owner Grant (New Homes). This will reduce to $10,000 on 1 January 2016.
To be eligible for the “First Home – New Home Scheme”, or “First Home Owner Grant” above:
at least one buyer must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident
the agreement must be for the purchase of the whole property
you must be a natural person (not a company or trust)
you must be over 18
the home is a brand new home
you or your partner have not previously owned property in any form in Australia
at least one purchaser must occupy the home within 12 months and needs to live in the home for a continuous period of at least 6 months.
New Home Grant scheme – $5,000 Grant If you are purchasing a brand new home (including “off the plan”), or vacant land on which a new home will be built then you can apply for the $5,000 New Home Grant. The Grant is paid by reducing your Stamp Duty costs, and if there is any money left over, then this would be paid to you by cheque.
You can apply for the Grant more than once, but it is limited to once per financial year. You can be a natural person, a company or trustee of a trust, and the grant is available to investors as well as owner occupiers. To be eligible for the New Home Grant:
Applications must be made within 3 months of the date of exchange of Contracts.
The value of the new home must not exceed $650,000 and the value of vacant land must not exceed $450,000.
For vacant land, construction of the home (by way of laying foundations), must commence within 26 weeks after settlement of the purchase. However, there is no limit on the time of construction.
You must be an Australian citizen, Australian resident or an Australian-owned body.
The above information has been simplified to make it easier to understand. There are however, firm requirements that must be met to be eligible for each benefit so if you would like to know more please contact the Office of State Revenue or I would love to hear from you.
First Home Owner Saver Accounts have been abolished by the Federal Government in the new budget handed down this week.
Federal Treasurer Mr Joe Hockey MP has said that the scheme “had limited effectiveness in improving housing affordability due to the low take up of the accounts…”
The announcement is effective immediately and any new accounts opened after 13 May 2014 will not be eligible for the Federal Government co-contribution, or any tax or social security concessions.
This is expected to result in savings of around $125 M over the next four years.
No other benefits for First Home Buyers were announced in the budget.
Recently the Swimming Pools Amendment Act 2012 introduced changes to increase swimming pool safety and save children’s lives, but they do put a responsibility on all property owners with swimming pools.
These days the definition of Swimming Pool might mean more than you think. It includes in-ground, above-ground, portable and spa pools that can be filled to a depth of 30 cm or more.
This legislation means that if you sell a property with a swimming pool you must put a Certificate of Compliance into your contract for sale. This was initially scheduled to begin at the end of this month on 29 April 2014, however this requirement has now been pushed back a full 12 months to 29 April 2015.
The reason for this extra time is because councils inspectors have advised that there has been a high fail rate of swimming pools. The owners then need to undertake work to the pool or surrounding area, and have sufficient funds to pay for the work, and then have council re-inspect the pool. This can cause delays in the issue of a compliance certificate of up to 3 months.
This means that if you wanted to sell your property and experienced troubles in receiving your swimming pool compliance certificate, then you may have to wait ¼ of a year to even be able to market your property to look for a buyer.
This has been found to be an unacceptably long time, and so the requirement to have a compliance certificate in your contract for sale has been delayed for 12 months, to enable people more time to have their pools inspected and carry out any repairs that may be necessary.
At the moment this means that if you plan to put your property on the market you are not required to get this certificate or carry out any work, you may still sell the property “as is” and leave the responsibility for the new owner to ensure that the swimming pool complies. However the Conveyancing (Sale of Land) Regulations 2010 require that the following statement must be included in all Contracts “An owner of a property on which a swimming pool is situated must ensure that the pool complies with the requirements of the Swimming Pools Act 1992…”
For this reason, if you are planning to sell your property, it is certainly a good idea to obtain a Swimming Pool Certificate of Compliance. It will guarantee that you have satisfied the above warning, it will avoid any possible headaches of needing to get one in a hurry if it takes longer to sell your property than expected and you cross the deadline, and it also helps ensure that all swimming pools in NSW comply with safety guidelines to keep our children safe from drowning.
If you are purchasing a property with a pool this year, you should give consideration to requesting a Certificate of Compliance from the owner, even perhaps if you offer to pay for it yourself. This way you will know that the pool is compliant prior to becoming the owner, and possibly save yourself alot of cost for example if the fence does not comply.
Council will be carrying out a compulsory inspection program, whereby they will inspect every property with a Swimming Pool over approximately the next three years. The owner will receive a letter from Council advising when they will be inspecting that street, you are required to pay the inspection fee of $150 and will then be issued with a Certificate of Compliance. If you sell your property within 3 years from the date of this Certificate you will not be obliged to obtain a new certificate.
A Certificate of Compliance can be ordered through your local council at a cost of $150.00. We are advised that they take approximately 10 working days to issue the certificate, subject to how quickly council can make a mutually convenient time with you to inspect the pool, and whether there are any issues which are raised at the inspection which need to be attended to before council can issue the certificate. The certificate may be valid for 3 years, subject to any changes in legislation during that time. Certificates can also be ordered through some private certifiers.
Should you have questions about your Swimming Pool, please let me know, or speak with your local council.
Many thanks to Lake Macquarie City Council for their assistance with my research, however they are not associated this blog.
