New DHOAS Home Buyers Subsidy - do you know much about it?

[MilkOnTap]

Hubby and I are looking at using the new DHOAS housing subsidy when it is launched on 1st July 08 - but does anyone know anything about it that the website DOESN'T detail???

We'll be entitled to tier 2 - which is $353/mth entitlement, plus a one-off lump sum to use as a deposit ($11568).

http://www.defence.gov.au/dpe/pac/dhoas_faqs.htm#subsidy

Apparantly we're still ALSO entitled to the old HPAS and HPEAS as well. I'm just wondering, can anyone fill me in on what they are/were? Cheers!

Thanks in advance :)

[DB&O]

Hi Pink Lady:wave:

The new scheme is fantastic :yes:much, much better than the previous Nab scheme. The new scheme should be ready for implementation by June/July of this year & we are expecting an update by the end of March, so if I know any more then I can PM you :yes:

Under the new scheme depending on Green Man's length of service he will be entitled to a monthly rebate applied against your mortgage. You can also elect to take 4 years of the lowest rebate in a lump sum to use as a deposit, the only condition I know of when doing this is that the serving member must continue in service for no less than the next 12 months. He will also be accrue additional entitlement based on war like service.
At this point I believe there will be just 3-6 approved lenders & access to the scheme will be dependant on taking on a mortgage with one of the approved lenders, now they will have to offer all sorts of different home loan products & should be very competitive.
HPAS is a once off taxed payment in order to help with the cost of purchasing a home, fees & such, I think & don't quote me that it is $15000 taxed & HPSEA is a payment to help with the costs involved when selling a home.
If I hear anything new I'll drop you a PM, or if you have any Q's you think I can help you with, just drop me a PM:yes:

Ciao,
Brooke.

[MilkOnTap]

Thanks for that Livsmummy - great to know someone who is in-the-know! It's all good and well to speak to someone about mortgages in general; but when you throw in all these weird and wonderful (VERY wonderful) entitlements it seems to become a whole new ballgame! (As if buying a house wasn't hard enough as is!)

So - would I be right in believing that including the once-off lump sum ($11.5K), HPAS ($15K) and the standard civillian FHOG ($7K) we would already have a tidy deposit of roughly $33.5K?

Using these entitlements alone, do you think we would still need to save more for a deposit? How competitive do you think the lenders will be?

Sorry for the 21 questions lol - I'm getting excited! :laughing:

[DB&O]

So - would I be right in believing that including the once-off lump sum ($11.5K), HPAS ($15K) and the standard civillian FHOG ($7K) we would already have a tidy deposit of roughly $33.5K?

Using these entitlements alone, do you think we would still need to save more for a deposit? How competitive do you think the lenders will be?

Sorry for the 21 questions lol - I'm getting excited! :laughing:

Hi PL:wave:; Out of the three payments you have mentioned above HPAS, DHOAS & FHOG only HPAS is taxed at the time it is paid to you, so it may work out that you only receive $10k out of the $15k however that is still a huge plus. To my knowledge DHOAS is a reportable fringe benefit & as such will be declared on Green Man's tax at the end of the financial year.

I would take a guess that the big 4 banks, the 2 defence credit unions (Defcredit & ADCU) & maybe 1or 2 of the larger mortgage companies such as Aussie have tendered to the Defence to be involved in the new scheme but as I mentioned earlier only 3-6 will be successful. We were originally under the impression that it would be closer to 6 but more current information is that it will only be around 3 & as such it is in the financial institutions best interest to put there best tender forward & as such I would imagine that there will be some pretty good overall deals to be had :yelclap:

Some lenders are quite conservative & like to see a savings pattern over at least 6 months, so if you can start putting away a small amount out of Green Man's pay every fortnight, have it alloted direct from his pay that way it is gone before the remainder of his pay hits your normal account & put it into an account you don't have ready access to & try to forget that its there.

It's hard to say whether we will be able to use just the above entitlements as a deposit but :fingerscrossed: also worth a mention is that most lenders like 5% deposit & with some lenders you may need up to a further 7% for associated costs :dizzy:

I'll let you know more as it comes to hand :ecomcity:

Ciao,
Brooke.

[MilkOnTap]

Thanks for that. Pop back in when you have more info - I know plenty of defence families who are really excited about these new entitlements.

Cheers,
Ally

[RaryGirl]

Sorry to butt in your thread PL ... but I have a question as well ....

My hubby served 15 years in the Navy, discharged in July 2001 and accessed the mortgage scheme in June 2002.

He is currently in the stand-by reserves ... is he entitled to refinance under the new scheme?

[DB&O]

Sorry to butt in your thread PL ... but I have a question as well ....

My hubby served 15 years in the Navy, discharged in July 2001 and accessed the mortgage scheme in June 2002.

He is currently in the stand-by reserves ... is he entitled to refinance under the new scheme?

Hi Nic71 :wave: yes the information I have is that reservists will be able to access the new scheme however there will be conditions on it, such as the reservist will also have had to satisfy a qualifying period, this is longer than that of current serving members. How long has DH been a reserve?
I'll get my collection of information out tomorrow whilst at work & clarify this for you & post it here in the evening :detective:

Ciao,
Brooke.

[RaryGirl]

Hi Nic71 :wave: yes the information I have is that reservists will be able to access the new scheme however there will be conditions on it, such as the reservist will also have had to satisfy a qualifying period, this is longer than that of current serving members. How long has DH been a reserve?
I'll get my collection of information out tomorrow whilst at work & clarify this for you & post it here in the evening :detective:

Ciao,
Brooke.

Thanks Brooke! :yelclap:

My hubby has been in the reserves since he left active service in 2001. So all up .... 15 years active service in Navy and 6 and a bit years in the reserves.

[MilkOnTap]

Nic - the website that I added in the first post of this thread has a lot of details about the DHOAS. Though LivsMummy seems to be able to say things so much clearer than the site lol.

Can't wait to hear what you find out tomorrow LM... Keep us updated!!! :D

[RaryGirl]

PL ... I was reading that out to DH and we got a little confused. :laughing:

It would be wonderful if we could access this new scheme .... as the old one doesn't cover anywhere near the full mortgage ... so it's a pain in the butt.

Thanks for letting me butt in your thread too PL!!!

[MilkOnTap]

Thanks for letting me butt in your thread too PL!!!

Ahhh - the more, the merrier! :p

Yeah the old scheme was just okay - but this new one will be brilliant!

I cant wait to find out more about it. Which lenders, what rates etc... Hubby and I have just started thinking about buying a house, so this is perfect timing.

Thing is - we would have to go married/separated so I want to find out more about those entitlements as well; oh, and what entitlements can be accessed for married/separated with dependant/s.

It would be tough - but we dont want to buy here in Sydney; my friends and family are all up north, and housing affordability up north is much more realistic.

[tootiredtosleep]

Thanks PL & livsmummy. I will be watching this thread very closely now - DH hadn't mentioned HPAS! That sounds very helpful.
I guess its not long now and we will know more about it.
Hopefully the process will be very straight forward.

[pennylane]

hey guys,

this all sounds great, DF ir re-enlisting in a few weeks,obviously we wont be entitled to the benifits for a few years but thats fine since we arent ready to buy yet anyway but can i ask what HPAS is?? and are we going to be entitled to it ?? :confused:

totally clueless :laughing:

[MilkOnTap]

Livsmummy - are you around? Whats the latest?

Pennylane - there are a couple of hyperlinks through the thread which you can access - they'll explain it a bit better than what I can lol

[tootiredtosleep]

I just googled hpas and found some info. its a one off payment (about $13k) to help with the cost of purchasing a house.

It looks like we won't get it because DH is discharging at the end of the year.. from how I read it, you have to buy and stay in the posting locality for 12 months to be eligible.

[Shauna]

what you all need to understand is that the HPAS is taxed so you only get about 8k which is what we got about 4-5yrs ago. As for the other one you get to help with selling be very wary of your dates we got stung and got nothing...we were informed of our posting so we put the house up for sale it sold before the actual posting order came through so we got nothing!!

Also if any of you have ever recieved HPAS before you cant recieve it again if use are in the same locality but say you bought in tsv then perth you would get it again.... make sense..i think i confused myself there LOL!!
We are going to wait a bit til all the lumps are out of it so to speak...
Good luck to everyone that is waiting and i will keep my eye on this thread it is very exciting that we are actually going to start seeing some benefits....just off topic how good will it be if Rudd does bring back family medical...

[DB&O]

I just googled hpas and found some info. its a one off payment (about $13k) to help with the cost of purchasing a house.

It looks like we won't get it because DH is discharging at the end of the year.. from how I read it, you have to buy and stay in the posting locality for 12 months to be eligible.

Hi all :wave: well I only have a little more info for Nic71 & tootiredtoosleep.

Nic71; yes your DH will be able to access the scheme on Tier1 but this is only after he has satisfied 8 continuous years of reserve service, which is longer than the 4 year qualifying period for permanent ADF members. I don't yet know if they will relax this for members who transferred from permanent to reserve with no break in between & I'm sure there will be a clause that says your DH will have to maintain his reserve obligation, is it 20 days per year?

tootiredtoosleep; yes HPAS is only available when you have a minimum of 12 months remaining in the posting locality, I hadn't remembered this prior to you mentioning it.

PL; no further updates in regards to lenders or interest rates or special terms but I'll be sure to post here as soon as I do hear anything new :yes:

Ciao,
Brooke.

[MilkOnTap]

Thanks for that Brooke - I'll be keeping my eye out :D

[samsgirls]

ooh, tell me about this HomeBuyers Subsidy. My DH has mentioned it but fairly vaguely. It would be the only way we could afford to buy a house. lol. My DH has been in for a total of 12 years. Where can we find more info?:smiliedance:

[ConcernedParent]

Hi there,

All this stuff is really interesting, if you PM details, would you mind also putting it on a post.

Thanks so much. Great post/s.

[ConcernedParent]

Just a heads up here...

The new scheme will attract FBT, which means it will be grossed up, (multiplied by 1.9147), and then reported on DH's payment summary at the end of each financial year.

This will then impact on the following:
Centrelink Payments, (Single and SAH parents)
Family Tax Benefit A
Family Tax Benefit B
Childcare Benefits
Childcare Tax Rebate
Medicare Levy
Medicare Levy Surcharge
HECS Payments
HELP Payments

and more importantly to your everyday cash flow:

Child Support Payments.

Think long and hard, and seek independent financial advice about this being a good step for you as it will give with one hand and take with the other.

If your partner is paying child support and is on the full entitlement, there will be an extra $10951 in reportable income to consider each year. (That is 470 x 12 months x 1.9417)

Don't think the new CSA scheme will help either because initial calculations out indicate parents will be paying more.

This will not be a good choice for some people.

Sorry guys. FYI - I am a Company Financial Controller who specialises in business, finance, HR and salary administration. I am across FBT and salary sacrificing and am aware how it impacts on entitlements.

Best thing for y'all to do here is to lobby for more FBT exempt entitlements as part of the new retention considerations.

[Shauna]

Hey concerned parent i am just wondering how is salary sacrificing going to affect my husbands income....if you can help that is, like what effect does it have on centrelink payments....we have reached our quota so were informed it should do much....

[*Cj*]

Hey concerned parent i am just wondering how is salary sacrificing going to affect my husbands income....if you can help that is, like what effect does it have on centrelink payments....we have reached our quota so were informed it should do much....


We Salary Sacrifice a car, a laptop, and phone. I put down $8000 for Salary Sacrifice on centrelink paper work. They take around half of it into account. So that puts our income up by just over $4000 for the year. Hope that helps.

[mumofjmc]

Just a quick update on the new home loan scheme...

Rumours have been floating around that the new Housing Loan has been scrapped by the new Government.

DGPERS (Air Force Director General Personnel in Canberra) has confirmed that the loan is still a goer, but the implementation date may be delayed; due to the change over in government. Eligibility date will remain at 01 Jul 08 but you may not see it introduced by that date.

[ConcernedParent]

Hi again,

I believe Centrelink takes 49% of the grossed up amounts when working out Family Tax entitlements. (What is the point of that you may ask - I know I do).
However in other cases such as, HECS, Medicare Levy and CSA, I think the full amount is taken into consideration. (That is off the top of my head - I do have a mental note flagged to check these things - so suggest checking it out first).

Regarding the scheme going ahead, I have been advised it will definately come into effect on 1 July 08 but they may not start accepting applications until much later after that date.

1 July is the qualification date and the implementation date. I believe the test case will be the first person to put their paperwork in, (lol).

[MilkOnTap]

Just a heads up here...

The new scheme will attract FBT, which means it will be grossed up, (multiplied by 1.9147), and then reported on DH's payment summary at the end of each financial year.

This will then impact on the following:
Centrelink Payments, (Single and SAH parents)
Family Tax Benefit A
Family Tax Benefit B
Childcare Benefits
Childcare Tax Rebate
Medicare Levy
Medicare Levy Surcharge
HECS Payments
HELP Payments

and more importantly to your everyday cash flow:

Child Support Payments.

Think long and hard, and seek independent financial advice about this being a good step for you as it will give with one hand and take with the other.

If your partner is paying child support and is on the full entitlement, there will be an extra $10951 in reportable income to consider each year. (That is 470 x 12 months x 1.9417)

Don't think the new CSA scheme will help either because initial calculations out indicate parents will be paying more.

This will not be a good choice for some people.

Sorry guys. FYI - I am a Company Financial Controller who specialises in business, finance, HR and salary administration. I am across FBT and salary sacrificing and am aware how it impacts on entitlements.

Best thing for y'all to do here is to lobby for more FBT exempt entitlements as part of the new retention considerations.

Wow - thanks for that info

[lavenderpegasus]

So - would I be right in believing that including the once-off lump sum ($11.5K), HPAS ($15K) and the standard civillian FHOG ($7K) we would already have a tidy deposit of roughly $33.5K?


So I read all of the posts and I'm still a little frazzled.... Are you able to get all three even if it is taxed??

lp in wa