Key points:

• The Australian government has extended the HomeBuilder grant deadline to June 30, 2025 
• Labour shortages and supply chain issues caused construction delays, risking homeowners missing the grant deadline.
• The extension of the HomeBuilder scheme is only applicable to already approved homeowners who have received formal approval, subject to state and territory agreement.

The Australian government has announced that it will extend the deadline for approved HomeBuilder applicants. Homeowners now have until June 30, 2025, instead of the original deadline of April 30, 2023. This announcement brings relief to homeowners who were facing significant delays and supply chain issues due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The delay in construction timelines has been caused by labour shortages and supply chain issues. These delays have pushed the timeline for building a new home from nine months to at least a year. Due to the delay in construction, homeowners were at risk of missing the HomeBuilder grant deadline by a matter of days.

Denita Wawn, the chief executive of Master Builders Australia, said that it takes approximately 40 different trades to complete a home, and normally, they would schedule them one after the other with no breaks to meet the deadline. However, due to the current labour shortage, this has not been possible, leading to significant delays. 

Homeowners who have already signed a contract and received formal approval under the scheme for off-the-plan purchases or renovations are eligible for the extended deadline. However, the extension is subject to agreement from the states and territories as they administer the grants.

The extension of the deadline will bring relief to homeowners who were starting to lose hope of receiving the grant due to the lack of positive responses from the government in recent months. The delay in the construction timeline has caused anxiety among homeowners, who are eager to complete their homes and secure the HomeBuilder grant.