First home saver accounts - what qualifies as owning a home?

To open a first home saver account, you need to be planning to buy or build a home in Australia to live in - either on your own or jointly. You must not have previously owned (either on your own or jointly) a home in Australia that you have lived in.

Australia includes Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Norfolk Island.

What is a home?

A home is a dwelling that is your main residence. A dwelling is a unit of accommodation that is fixed to the land, such as a house, flat, unit, townhouse or other building suitable for occupation as a residence.

Boats, caravans, mobile homes, demountable homes and transportable homes are not dwellings unless both of the following apply:

• they are suitable for occupation as a residence, and
• they are fixed to land you own.

Example

An apartment is a dwelling. However, a permanent on-site caravan you own, which is located at a caravan park owned by someone else, such as a local council, is not a dwelling.

Whether or not a dwelling is your main residence depends on your circumstances - in particular:

• whether you and/or your family is living in the dwelling
• the length of time you stay at the dwelling
• whether you keep personal belongings at the dwelling
• whether mail is delivered to the dwelling
• whether your address on the electoral roll is the address of the dwelling
• whether you have services connected, such as a telephone, gas and electricity
• your intention in occupying the dwelling.

A mere intention to occupy a dwelling as your main residence, without actually doing so, is insufficient to make it your main residence.

Example

Rod lives in a rented house and also rents an apartment where he stays for short holidays. The house is where Rod spends most of his time. It is also his mailing address and his address on the electoral roll. The house is Rod's main residence but the apartment is not.

If Rod wishes to purchase the apartment but still live mainly in his rental home, he cannot use his first home saver account funds to make a payment to purchase the apartment.