In this blog/video we discuss NEW MASSIVE news for QLD First Home Buyers – NEW LAWS - rent a room without penalty!

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Hi everybody - George Sourris, Empire Legal.

Today's topic: Massive news for QLD First Home Buyers – NEW LAWS - rent a room without penalty!

First Home Buyers get a big leg up! Guys, on Saturday the 7th of December 2024, Queensland Premier David Crisafulli's Government made a major announcement to Queensland homeowners regarding renting out a room. The Crisafulli Government has cut the red tape permanently, allowing buyers to rent a room or two without losing the benefit of the transfer duty (formerly known as stamp duty) concession.

Furthermore, first home buyers will not lose the benefit of any grants with the new changes. Dubbed: "A fresh start for Queensland", this campaign has attracted a stack of media attention, for the better.

Sam O'Connor, the Minister for Housing stated, "there are approximately 20,000 first homebuyers who will get the benefit of this new law". Now that's a lot of rooms being made available to Queenslanders in this housing crisis. 

Prior to this new law, a purchaser claiming the Home or First Home concession would lose their discounted transfer duty rate if they "disposed" of any part of the property during the initial 12 months of occupation. Disposal includes subleasing any part of the property, including renting a room, Airbnb, etc. 

The changes deliver on a key commitment from the 100 day plan of the Crisafulli Government's ambitious planning to raise the rate of home ownership in Queensland, which is currently the lowest in any State in Australia. Again guys, Queensland has the lowest percentage of home ownership in the country. 

Dubbed the "Securing Our Housing Foundation Plan" by the Crisafulli Government, this includes abolishing transfer (stamp) duty for all new builds for first home buyers. Queensland Treasurer, Minister for Energy and Minister for Home Ownership, David Janetzky, said "boosting affordability and supply was a priority of the Crisafulli Government".

It now takes a historical high of, wait for it...  more than 10 years on average for a household to save a 20% deposit in Brisbane!

The official announcement from Mr. Crisafulli is available here, if you want to click and watch along.

Furthermore, I've placed a link here to the official media statement direct from the Queensland Government's website as well. 

Now let's quickly jump into eligibility requirements before we wrap up.

Okay, so you need to move in to the property first. You have to be living in the property for an entire 12 month period. As per the Government website, today you're able to lease, rent or otherwise grant exclusive possession of part of the property, providing the lease arrangement starts between 10 September 2024 and 30 June 2025. We believe the new Crisafulli Government update will continue beyond this period, but as at the date of publishing this blog, this is what is said on the QRO, Queensland Revenue Office website.

Say for example, you can rent a room out, or even two or three or four rooms, so long as you're also living in the property and you were living there before your roommate or roommates moved in. In this scenario, you will still keep the benefit of the Home or First Home concession, and you do not need to notify the Queensland Revenue Office that you've got some roomies.

Okay, so what does this all actually mean? First home buyers are going to save up to $24,525 on transfer duty, and get up to $30,000 in grants, and still be able to produce income by renting out their rooms. Big changes for Queensland, great news for those claiming the Home or First Home concession. 

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Ladies and gentlemen, please keep in mind that all advice is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice. This is authorised by George Sourris, Empire Legal, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

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Note: all information is general in nature and as each matter is unique please contact our office for tailored advices: the above does not constitute legal advice.