5Meaning of “first home buyer”

5 Meaning of “first home buyer”

5 Meaning of “first home buyer”

(1) In this Act—

first home buyer means a person—

(a) who is an individual, and

(b) who is 18 years of age or older, and

(c) who has not at any time owned residential land in Australia, either solely or with another person, and

(d) who has not previously been a party to a relevant application approved by the Chief Commissioner, and

(e) if the individual has a spouse—whose spouse—

(i) has not at any time owned residential land in Australia, either solely or with another person, and

(ii) has not previously been a party to a relevant application approved by the Chief Commissioner.

(2) Land owned by a person on trust or as an executor of a will is taken not to be owned by the person for the purposes of subsection (1).

(3) A person is taken not to be a party to a relevant application if the relevant application was made by the person in the person’s capacity as a trustee or an executor of a will.

(4) A person is taken to have owned land in the Australian Capital Territory if the person has held a leasehold interest granted by the Commonwealth in the land.

(5) The Chief Commissioner may waive the requirement that an individual be 18 years of age or over to be a first home buyer in relation to a transfer of land if satisfied that—

(a) the individual as a first home buyer will occupy the land following the transfer in accordance with section 15, and

(b) the waiver is reasonable in the circumstances.

(6) In this section—

relevant application means an application under—

(a) this Act, or

(b) provisions of the Duties Act 1997, Chapter 2, Part 8 intended to assist persons to buy a first home, or

(c) provisions of an Act prescribed by the regulations.