15Persons who, subject to section 16, may apply

15 Persons who, subject to section 16, may apply

(1) Where, on or after 18 March 1982, a person (in this section referred to as the home acquirer) has, or 2 or more persons (in this section referred to as the home acquirers) together have: (a) entered into a contract for the purchase of a dwelling situated in Australia; (b) entered into a contract for the construction by a building‑contractor of a dwelling on land situated in Australia, being a dwelling that the Secretary is satisfied will be owned: (i) by the home acquirer or by any of the home acquirers, as the case may be; (ii) by a person who, on the date of the contract, was the spouse of the home acquirer or of any of the home acquirers, as the case may be; or (iii) jointly by 2 or more persons, each of whom is a person to whom subparagraph (i) or (ii) applies; other than a dwelling the construction of which was commenced before 18 March 1982; or (c) commenced the construction, otherwise than through a building‑contractor, of a dwelling on land situated in Australia, being a dwelling that the Secretary is satisfied will be owned: (i) by the home acquirer or by any of the home acquirers, as the case may be; (ii) by a person who, on the date on which the construction commenced, was the spouse of the home acquirer or of any of the home acquirers, as the case may be; or (iii) jointly by 2 or more persons, each of whom is a person to whom subparagraph (i) or (ii) applies; then, subject to subsection (2) and section 5, the home acquirer or each of the home acquirers, as the case may be, is, and any person who, on the date of the contract, or the date on which construction commenced, as the case may be, was the spouse of the home acquirer or of any of the home acquirers, as the case may be, is, for the purposes of this Act, a prescribed person in relation to the dwelling. (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a person unless, on the relevant date, the person: (a) has attained the age of 16 years; or (b) is married or engaged to be married. (3) Where: (a) a person is a prescribed person in relation to a dwelling; and (b) subject to subsection (5), a grant under a prescribed Act or under this Act has not been made to the prescribed person, either alone or jointly with another person; the prescribed person is, for the purposes of section 16, a person to whom this subsection applies. (4) Where: (a) on the date on which a person entered into a contract or commenced construction of a dwelling as mentioned in subsection (1), the person was engaged to be married to another person; and (b) the Secretary is satisfied that the other person has consented to being treated as the spouse of the first‑mentioned person for the purposes of this section; a reference in this section to a person who, on the date of the contract or on the date on which construction commenced, as the case may be, was the spouse of the first‑mentioned person shall be read as including a reference to that other person. (5) For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), a grant under a prescribed Act or under this Act shall be deemed not to have been made to a person, or to persons jointly, if, in pursuance of that Act or of this Act, as the case may be, the grant has been repaid to the Commonwealth or the Commonwealth has recovered the grant. (6) For the purposes of this section, the date of a contract is such date as is determined by the Secretary, being a date: (a) where paragraph (1)(a) applies—not earlier than the earliest date on which the home acquirer or home acquirers entered into contractual relations with the owner of the dwelling in respect of the purchase of the dwelling; or (b) where paragraph (1)(b) applies—not earlier than: (i) the earliest date on which the home acquirer or home acquirers entered into contractual relations with the building‑contractor in respect of the construction of the dwelling; or (ii) the date on which the construction of the dwelling commenced; whichever is the sooner. (7) In this section: