New South Wales’ Regional Relocation Home Buyers Grant ends today

A one-off $7,000 payment to those relocating to a regional area finishes today in New South Wales. The Regional Relocation Home Buyers Grant is a payment provided to those relocating from a metropolitan to a regional area, and is noted as not meeting the Government's objectives.

Available to Australian citizens and permanent residents, to receive the grant the applicant must have purchased a regional property on or after 1 July 2011, and on or prior to 30 September 2014.

The regional home must not exceed $600,000, or $450,000 for vacant land.

The applicant must begin living in the regional property within 12 months of purchase, and reside in the property for 12 continuous months. For those purchasing vacant land, they must commence construction within six months and reside in the home within 12 months of purchase date.

You must also have owned and occupied a metropolitan home as a principal place of residence in the 12 months prior to commencing the purchase, and it must be sold in the 12 months prior or after purchase.

Alternatively, those renting homes in a metropolitan area for 12 months prior to purchase, and who can establish a two-year continuous rental history in metropolitan areas, can apply. This was only valid from 1 January 2014.

Applications submitted from 1 January also required the purchased regional property to be further than a 100 kilometre radius from the metropolitan home.

Prior to 2014, only one grant was available per household, even if two regional properties were purchased. However, since 1 January, if two regional properties are purchased and both applications qualify then two grants may be achievable. No value limit is placed on the sale achieved on the metropolitan home to receive the grant.

The Skilled Regional Relocation Incentive, offering $10,000, is also closing today after commencing this year.

A note on the Office of State Revenue website says that despite the closing of these grants, the Government is considering a re-introduction of the Skillled Regional Relocation Incentive, with applications backdated to 1 October 2014. The Regional Relocation Home Buyers Grant, however, will not be re-introduced.

"The Regional Relocation Home Buyers Grant has not been as effective in meeting the Government’s objectives as the Skilled Regional Relocation Incentive. For this reason, the Government is ending the Regional Relocation Home Buyers Grant. As the Regional Relocation Grants Act 2011 does not provide for partial closure of the scheme, both schemes must be closed," they explain.

If you've relocated prior to today and haven't yet applied, you are still able to provided you do so before 31 December 2015.