15Eligible persons

15 Eligible persons

(1) Where, on or after 1 January 1977, a person (in this subsection referred to as the home acquirer) has, or 2 or more persons (in this subsection referred to as the home acquirers) together have: (a) entered into a contract for the purchase of a dwelling‑house situated in Australia; (b) entered into a contract for the construction by a building‑contractor of a dwelling‑house on land situated in Australia, being land that is, or 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‑house the construction of which was commenced before 1 January 1977; or (c) commenced the construction, otherwise than through a building‑contractor, of a dwelling‑house on land situated in Australia, being land that is, or 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 (5), the home acquirer or each of the home acquirers, as the case may be, 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‑house. (2) Where: (a) a person is a prescribed person in relation to a dwelling‑house; (b) on the date that, under subsection (7), is the relevant date, the prescribed person: (i) has attained the age of 18 years; or (ii) is married or engaged to be married; (c) on that date, the prescribed person: (i) is an Australian citizen; or (ii) is a person resident in Australia whose continued presence in Australia is not subject to any limitation as to time imposed by law; (d) subject to subsection (4), a grant under the Homes Savings Grant Act 1964 or the Home Deposit Assistance Act 1982, has not been made to the prescribed person, either alone or jointly with another person; and (e) subject to subsection (4), a grant under this Act has not been made to the prescribed person, either alone or jointly with another person or other persons; the prescribed person is, for the purposes of this Act, an eligible person in relation to the dwelling‑house. (3) Where: (a) on the date on which a person entered into a contract or commenced construction of a dwelling‑house 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. (4) For the purposes of paragraphs (2)(d) and (e), a grant under the Homes Savings Grant Act 1964, the Home Deposit Assistance Act 1982 or this Act shall be deemed not to have been made to a person, or to persons jointly if, in pursuance of the Homes Savings Grant Act 1964, the Home Deposit Assistance Act 1982 or this Act, as the case may be, the grant has been repaid to the Commonwealth or the Commonwealth has recovered the grant. (5) Where the Secretary is satisfied that a person who, either alone or together with another person or other persons, has entered into a contract for the purchase or construction of a dwelling‑house as mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) or (b) does not intend to reside in the dwelling‑house within a reasonable time after the relevant date, the Secretary may, in his discretion, direct that the person is not a prescribed person in relation to the dwelling‑house for the purposes of this Act. (6) For the purposes of this section: (a) the date of a contract referred to in paragraph (1)(a) is: (i) if the contract was in writing—the date of the making of the contract; or (ii) if the contract was not in writing—such date as the Secretary determines; and (b) the date of a contract referred to in paragraph (1)(b) is: (i) if the contract was in writing—the date of the making of the contract or the date on which the construction of the dwelling‑house commenced, whichever is the earlier; or (ii) if the contract was not in writing—such date as the Secretary determines. (7) In this section, relevant date means: (a) in relation to a person who is a prescribed person by reason of the entering into by that person or by another person of a contract of the kind mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) or (b)—the date of the contract; and (b) in relation to a person who is a prescribed person by reason of the commencement of the construction of a dwelling‑house by that person or by another person as mentioned in paragraph (1)(c)—the date on which the construction commenced.