Kiwis buying up over in Oz

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Kiwis living "across the ditch" have until the end of the month to get an Australian government grant of up to $21,000 to buy a house there.

And they are able to get the handout - given under the First Home Owner Scheme - even if they own a home in New Zealand.

The Australian Government grants first-home buyers $7000 for established homes and $14,000 for new homes, and temporarily boosted the grants to $14,000 and $21,000 as part of its 2009-2010 Budget.

The extension ends on September 30.

Kiwi homeowners' eligibility for the grants has caused controversy across the Tasman, with claims being bandied about in the Australian press that New Zealanders are using them to buy holiday homes.

In a story headlined "How Kiwis cash in on Gold Coast", the Gold Coast Bulletin said Kiwis have "another reason to move there", because the $14,000 grant for older houses and $21,000 for new ones can be used by those who have owned houses in New Zealand but are buying their first in Australia.

And the Sunday Mail alleges "cashed up" New Zealanders are using the scheme to buy holiday homes in Australia.

It quotes a Treasury statement that "Applicants who have previously owned a home outside Australia will be eligible under the First Home Owner Scheme if their application is in relation to the applicant's first principal place of residence in Australia".

The grant's eligibility criteria require Kiwis to be permanent residents in Australia and buying their first main residence there.

The Herald on Sunday asked Queensland's Treasury to clarify whether Kiwis who still own a property in New Zealand can use the grant to buy their first home in Australia - or if they have to have sold it first.

Queensland Commissioner of State Revenue David Smith replied: "Owning residential property in New Zealand does not stop [New Zealanders] getting the grant if they meet the other eligibility requirements.

"However, there are certain criteria that must be met before anyone can access our first-home owner grants.

"They include things like having Australian or permanent residency, and the grant recipient must move into the home and live in it continuously for six months."

In the 2008-2009 year, 47,780 New Zealand citizens arrived in Australia indicating they intended to stay longer than 12 months. Australia's last Census shows 389,467 people living there who were born in New Zealand. Of those, 148,760 live in Queensland - 34,730 of them on the Gold Coast.

While Treasury does not keep records of how many of those 34,000 New Zealanders living on the Gold Coast have used the First Home Owner grant, Kiwi Home Loans owner Paul Adamson, on the Gold Coast, says "lots" do.

As a broker, Adamson helps home buyers with grant applications, and says the boost to the grant amounts has encouraged more people - including New Zealanders - to take the opportunity to buy a house.

"The reason the Government put the grant in place was to stimulate people to buy, and New Zealanders are entitled to it as much as anyone else, but they're not using it to buy holiday homes," Adamson says.

There is no extra obstacle for Kiwis needing finance to fund the balance of the purchase, as lenders do not differentiate between New Zealanders living in Australia and Australians. Adamson says banks generally require buyers to have saved a 5 per cent deposit, regardless of whether they are using a grant or not.

Kiwi Joanne Williams is a registered nurse who moved to the Gold Coast in December after securing work. She is enjoying the lifestyle so much she intends becoming a citizen, and is using the First Home Owner grant to buy a home she will move into shortly.

Williams says Kiwis living on the Gold Coast get a hard time, including in the local paper, and she hasn't come across any who have misused the scheme. But she says the weather, entertainment and other opportunities make up for it.

Perfect opportunity to secure home

Kiwis Michael Thompson and Sharon Ayres have lived on the Gold Coast for 10 years, and just used a grant from the Australian Government under its First Home Owner Scheme to buy there. Thompson wanted "roots and security," and says he never looks a gift horse in the mouth.

"If the opportunity is there, wouldn't you take it? I don't know why they don't do it in New Zealand because it's an asset for the economy."

The couple intends living and working on the Gold Coast for another 15 or 20 years, but returning to New Zealand ultimately. For now, they're enjoying life, work and the weather. Their home is in a rural town that Thompson says reminds them of where they grew up in New Zealand - not overpopulated and friendly.

He admits "Kiwi-bashing", evident in media claims of misuse of the grant, is common, but he hasn't heard of anyone who has misused it.

"The group we associate with have all bought a home using the grant, I don't know of anyone who has bought it to use as a holiday home."