49Committing and using places—first year of the program

49  Committing and using places—first year of the program

 (1) Where a place has been allocated to a particular State or Territory under subsection 48(2), Housing Australia may, on or after the allocation date, commit or use the place for an arrangement in respect of property in that State or Territory at any time before 1 March 2026.

Note 1: Paragraph 14(4)(h) means that Housing Australia cannot approve an application except where this Division allows.

Note 2: This section operates subject to section 52 (which prevents places from being used and arrangements from being entered into in certain circumstances once a participating State has given notice of its intention to cease participating).

Committing and using places from 1 March 2026

 (2) Where a place remains unallocated or uncommitted on 1 March 2026, Housing Australia may, on or after that date, commit or use the place for an arrangement in respect of property in any participating State or a Territory at any time before the end of the 2025-26 financial year.

Note: Places will be unallocated on 1 March 2026 if not all States are participating by that date, or, if all States are participating, if rounding under subsection 48(3) results in some places being unallocated.

Uncommitted places at end of year treated as unused for next financial year

 (3) If a place has not been committed before the end of 30 June 2026, for the purposes of working out the number of unused places in a financial year, it is to be treated as an unused place for the next financial year.

Where place is committed, arrangement need not be entered into before end of financial year

 (4) If a place is committed before the end of 30 June 2026:

 (a) Housing Australia may only use the place, and enter into an arrangement in respect of the place, before the end of 30 June 2027; and

 (b) after 30 June 2027, for the purposes of working out the number of unused places in a financial year, the place is to be treated as an unused place.

Note 1: This allows the place to be rolled over under subsection 50(1). However, this section applies subject to section 52, which deals with situations where a State gives notice of its intention to stop participating in the program.

Note 2: Paragraph 14(1)(d) provides that Housing Australia may only enter into an arrangement where this Division allows. This section will sometimes prevent Housing Australia from entering into an arrangement in respect of a place even where it had previously approved an application to enter into the arrangement.