20Grants

20 Grants

(1) Subject to this section, the Secretary may, in his discretion, on behalf of the Commonwealth, make a grant of moneys in accordance with this Act to an eligible person. (1A) A grant under this Act shall not be made to an eligible person unless he became an eligible person before the expiration of twelve months after the prescribed date or before such later time as the Secretary, in special circumstances, allows. (2) A grant under this Act shall not be made to an eligible person in respect of a dwelling‑house: (a) unless the Secretary is satisfied, before the expiration of twelve months after the prescribed date or before such later time as the Secretary, in special circumstances, allows, that the eligible person or his or her spouse has or will have, or both the eligible person and his or her spouse have or will have, as the case may be, adequate financial resources (including resources obtained or to be obtained by borrowing) to perform the contract entered into by either or both of them for the purchase or construction of the dwelling‑house or to complete the construction of the dwelling‑house, as the case may be; (b) unless the amount that the Secretary is satisfied is the value of the dwelling‑house, or will be the value of the dwelling‑house when it is erected, does not exceed: (i) if the prescribed date in relation to the eligible person is a date that is not later than 27 November 1966—Fourteen thousand dollars; (ii) if the prescribed date in relation to the eligible person is a date that is later than 27 November 1966, but is not later than 26 October 1969—Fifteen thousand dollars; (iii) if the prescribed date in relation to the eligible person is a date that is later than 26 October 1969, but is not later than 15 August 1972—Seventeen thousand five hundred dollars; or (iv) in any other case—Twenty‑two thousand five hundred dollars; (c) if the eligible person or his or her spouse has, or the eligible person and his or her spouse have, during their marriage: (i) owned another dwelling‑house; or (ii) been a party or parties to a contract, other than a contract that was discharged (otherwise than by performance of the contract) before the expiration of three months after it was entered into, for the purchase of another dwelling‑house, being a contract that provided for the payment of the purchase price or part of the purchase price by instalments; or (e) in the case of a grant in respect of the purchase of a dwelling‑house, if the Secretary is satisfied that: (i) any moneys will, upon completion of the purchase, be owing by the purchaser to a State or a State authority in respect of a loan in connexion with the purchase made in whole or in part out of Commonwealth‑State Housing Agreement moneys; (iA) a loan has been made to the purchaser by a State or a State authority in connexion with the purchase and the payments in respect of that loan are, by reason of a grant of financial assistance to the State to which subsection (2) of section 8 of the States Grants (Housing) Act 1971 applies, less than they would otherwise have been; (ii) where the dwelling‑house is being purchased from a State or a State authority—the dwelling‑house was constructed by or for the State or the same or another State authority and the cost of construction was paid for in whole or in part out of Commonwealth‑State Housing Agreement moneys; (iiA) the dwelling‑house is being purchased from a State or a State authority under a contract that provides for the payment of the purchase price or part of the purchase price by instalments and the payments under the contract are, by reason of the grant of financial assistance to the State under section 5 of the States Grants (Housing) Act 1971, less than they would otherwise have been; (iii) where the dwelling‑house is situated in the Australian Capital Territory—the dwelling‑house is being purchased from the Commonwealth or any moneys will, upon completion of the purchase, be owing by the purchaser to the Commonwealth in connexion with the purchase; or (iv) where the dwelling‑house is situated in the Northern Territory—the dwelling‑house is being purchased from the Commonwealth or the Housing Commission of that Territory or any moneys will, upon completion of the purchase, be owing by the purchaser to the Commonwealth or that Housing Commission in connexion with the purchase. (3) Paragraph (a) of the last preceding subsection does not apply in relation to an eligible person where the person or his or her spouse, or the person together with his or her spouse, has entered into a contract for the purchase of the dwelling‑house, being a contract that provides for the payment of the purchase price or part of the purchase price by instalments, and the Secretary is satisfied that it would be unreasonable for that paragraph to apply having regard to all the circumstances. (4) For the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (2), the value of a dwelling‑house is the value: (a) in the case of a dwelling‑house not being a dwelling‑house of a kind commonly known as a flat or home unit—of the approved interest owned or to be owned by the eligible person or his or her spouse, or by both of those persons, in the land on which the dwelling‑house is, or is being, erected having regard to the dwelling‑house and any other improvements that are, or are being, made to that land; and (b) in the case of a dwelling‑house being a dwelling‑house of a kind commonly known as a flat or home unit: (i) of the approved interest owned or to be owned by the eligible person or his or her spouse, or by both of those persons, in the flat or home unit; (ii) of the shares owned or to be owned by the eligible person and his or her spouse, or by both of those persons, in the capital of a company that is the beneficial owner of an approved interest in the land on which the building containing the flat or home unit is, or is being, erected, being shares that entitle the holder to a right of occupancy (whether under a lease or otherwise) in respect of the flat or home unit; or (iii) of the undivided share owned or to be owned by the eligible person or his or her spouse, or by both of those persons, in an approved interest in the land on which the building containing the flat or home unit is, or is being, erected having regard to the building and any other improvements that are, or are being, made to that land; as the case may be. (4A) In satisfying himself for the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (2) as to the value of a dwelling‑house, the Secretary may have regard to such matters as he thinks fit, including: (a) in the case of a dwelling‑house not being a dwelling‑house of a kind commonly known as a flat or home unit—the cost to the eligible person and his or her spouse of: (i) the approved interest in the land on which the dwelling‑house is, or is being, erected; and (ii) the dwelling‑house and other improvements that are, or are being, made to that land; and (b) in the case of a dwelling‑house being a dwelling‑house of a kind commonly known as a flat or home unit—the cost to the eligible person and his or her spouse of: (i) the approved interest in the flat or home unit; (ii) the shares in the capital of a company that entitle the holder to a right of occupancy in respect of the flat or home unit; or (iii) the undivided share in an approved interest in the land on which the building containing the flat or home unit is, or is being, erected; as the case may be. (5) A reference in either of the last two preceding subsections to land on which a dwelling‑house is, or is being, erected includes a reference to the land comprising the curtilage of the dwelling‑house but does not include a reference to any part of the land or dwelling‑house that the Secretary is satisfied is not, or will not be, used by the eligible person and his or her spouse as a dwelling‑house or for purposes connected with the use by those persons of the dwelling‑house as a dwelling‑house. (6) Paragraph (c) of subsection (2) does not apply in relation to a dwelling‑house if the Secretary is satisfied that it would be unreasonable to regard the dwelling‑house as, or as suitable for the purpose of constituting, the matrimonial home of the eligible person and his or her spouse. (7) Paragraph (e) of subsection (2) does not apply in relation to an eligible person in relation to whom the prescribed date is a date not earlier than 1 April 1976.