When COVID-19 first hit Australia in early 2020 and talk of a major recession – if not, depression – spread, trades around Australia fretted about what was ahead. “In March, our enquiries fell off a cliff – it was hugely concerning,” says Michael Pinter, director of Linear Design and Construct in Brisbane. “When the HomeBuilder grant was announced, there was more confidence – it was a game-changer.”

Like many trades, Pinter saw a spike in enquiries after the government introduced the stimulus scheme in June 2020, with enquiries from homeowners who wanted to take advantage of the $25,000 grant available for a new build or substantial renovation.

But with tight eligibility, including a household income of less than $200,000 per year; a contract in place by the end of the year; a limit of between $150,000 and $750,000 spent on renovations; and a cap on new build value at $750,000 including land, many Australians found they didn't qualify.

But with an update to the eligibility criteria announced in November, many trades are still capitalising on the stimulus package in 2021.

With the combination of the stimulus package, low interest rates and so much time spent in lockdown driving Australians’ desires for a reno or new home, many people are trying to access to the HomeBuilder boost.

In fact, as of 31 December, the government had received a whopping 75,000 applications for builds and renovations. With the longer lead times and higher price caps, more property owners may qualify for the government’s extended HomeBuilder stimulus scheme, which could mean more work for trades this year.
“We’ve seen a lot of activity in the detatched market since June,” says Angela Lillicrap, Housing Industry Australia (HIA) economist. “We’ve seen HIA new home sales reach their highest level in the 20-year history of our HIA New Home Sales report; we’ve seen building approval reach a record high; and we’ve seen housing finance for detached houses reach record highs. We expect there will be slightly less uptake of the $15,000 grant, but it will still support really strong levels of activity.”

Lillicrap says that construction is often targeted during economic downturns. “Residential construction in particular is very labour-heavy, so there’s a lot of workers on site,” she explains. “Before the HomeBuilder scheme was announced in June, we were forecasting very low levels of building activity, with almost a 50 per cent drop. That would have meant almost half of the workforce would have been at risk of unemployment, so this has kept a lot of people in jobs.”

With grant application deadlines looming, Pinter says any homeowners looking to get in on the scheme would need to be ready to start. “If you’ve got completed drawings, then my advice would be to get to contract and get it signed off, even if it’s a deferred start,” he says. “There may be an opportunity for homeowners to go to contract with a builder on provisional sums, even if all the details [in the design] aren’t nutted out completely. Having said that, the caveat is that you don’t want there to be so many holes [in the contract] that there's going to be $15,000 in issues.”