The Federal Government announced yesterday the 2020-21 budget. In it, the government laid out financial commitments — overall support of $507 billion, including $257 billion in direct economic support — to ‘rebuild our economy, create jobs and secure Australia’s future.’

The Government’s Economic Recovery Plan is now transitioning to focus on boosting the economy with varying support for different industries. The construction industry saw a bigger win than most in the budget, with a few measures meant to stimulate building across the country. This could mean thousands of new jobs and hopefully, an immediate increase in revenue for small businesses.

Stimulating the construction industry

The Government included a $14 billion investment for new and fast-tracked infrastructure projects. They brought forward a $7.5 billion plan for road and rail projects, introduced a new $2 billion investment in road safety upgrades and a new $1 billion plan for local councils to upgrade roads and infrastructure.

People can still take advantage of the $688 million HomeBuilder scheme, which offers cash grants for people to renovate or build new homes.

Support for apprentices and trainees

$1.2 billion will be added to the $2.8 billion in the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements Wage Subsidy which will go toward wages for up to 180,000 apprentices and trainees to help businesses keep more people employed.

The subsidy, capped at $7,000 per quarter, will be paid to businesses of any size who take on apprentices from 5 October 2020 through to 30 September 2021.

Extension of first home buyer support

The Government announced the addition of 10,000 places to the first home buyer’s scheme which helps people purchase a house with a small deposit. Under the extension of the scheme, only those buying new construction can benefit. Price caps will be raised to reflect the higher price of new builds.

Builders can benefit from the scheme by encouraging their clients to build new homes and offer advice on how to best take advantage of the extra support offered.

Eligibility:

• Home buyers must use one of 27 participating lenders.
• The new places are reserved for people buying new homes.
• The Government will guarantee larger loans (previously, houses worth up to $700,000 in Sydney were covered, but now the cap is $950,000. The upper cap for Melbourne will now be $850,000, and $650,000 in Brisbane.)

Find out more about what the 2020-21 budget means for you from news.com.au.

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