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Foreign investors - Buying property as a foreigner or temporary resident in Australia.
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 The Australian Government (based in Canberra, Australia's capital city) is aware of the fact that some of Australia's citizens are cautious about foreign individuals or companies buying residential real estate (defined as all Australian real property, including vacant land).
It wants to ensure that the foreign real estate ownership it does allow is to benefit the community and in keeping with community needs. Therefore, the Australian Government insists that all applications from foreign citizens or companies to buy residential real estate (either already developed - such as houses and apartments - to be developed, to be redeveloped or existing only at plan stage) are put before the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), one of its advisory boards.
This advisory board reports to Treasury and reviews all applications to purchase residential real estate, no matter what the value of the intended purchase is, by anyone who is NOT: -
- an Australian citizen,
- an approved migrant,
- a permanent resident of Australia,
- a foreign national holding a permanent visa or
- a person who, despite being a foreign citizen, is entitled to permanent residence status in Australia, should they take it up, such as a citizen of New Zealand. These people are holders of "special category visa".
There are many different classes and categories of visas. Click here for an overview of the various visa classes which can be applied for by foreign citizens.
There are usually no problems when the foreign spouse of an Australian citizen applies to be allowed to purchase property with his/her spouse on a 50/50 or "Joint Tenant" basis, but there still must be an application to the FIRB.
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Frequently Asked Questions on Foreign Investment Review Board
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 If you are new to the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) and would like to find for further information.
Please click here by visiting the FIRB website to provide a brief response to the most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). You may find that your questions are answered there without the need for further research.
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Overview: -
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Buying a Property from a Developer
Apartments or townhouses in a proposed development, or in a development which has just been completed but has not yet been occupied or sold, can be sold to foreign investors as long as the developer applies in advance for this to be allowed. If a foreign citizen buys a property in this way (often called "buying off the plan"), the property, when built, can be rented out, sold or used by the purchaser.
However, foreign interest cannot hold more than half the apartments or townhouses in any one development.
Please Note: -
- You should asked to see a copy of the developer's approval letter to ensure that FIRB approval exists for sales to foreign citizens.
- You should be aware that, on purchase of any apartment, new or old, you are liable to pay regular levies (payable weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually) to cover the costs of the property and grounds that all the residents use. A group known as the body corporate, made up usually of your fellow owners, is responsible for collecting levies for two funds, called an Administration Fund and a Sinking Fund. These funds go towards servicing the lifts, repainting the building, lighting the hallways - the various maintenance jobs that benefit all residents. If you are buying into an apartment block with, for example, a gym, swimming pool, rooftop tennis court and so on, levies will be comparatively high.
- If you are planning to buy an apartment, your legal representative will need to make a Strata Records Inspection. This will outline how much the levies are at the time of purchase. Such an inspection will also tell you the rules governing use of common facilities, whether or not pets are permitted as so forth.
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Purchasing within a Resort
If the Australian Treasurer nominates that a particular resort is an Integrated Tourism Resort, then both residences and vacant land can be purchased within that resort by anybody without any FIRB assessment taking place. The seller of any such property would make this status known to all prospective purchasers.
To be considered an Integrated Tourism Resort, a place must fulfil certain conditions, such as covering at least 50 hectares of land within defined boundaries, have extensive recreational facilities, and so forth.
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Commercial Real Estate
FIRB approval must be sought by any foreign individual or company which wants to purchase existing commercial and non-residential real estate valued at AUD5 million or more. There are normally approved unless considered "contrary to the national interest".
If the commercial and/or non-residential real estate in question does not yet exist but is at the development or major redevelopment stage, permission to purchase is usually given, unless the purchase is considered "contrary to the national interest".
Construction must start within a specified period of time.
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Migrating to Australia ?
If you are interest in buying property in Australia because you want to migrate to Australia on a Permanent Residence Visa (with a view to taking up Australian citizenship at a later date), it is perhaps premature to investigate the purchase of property before your eligibility for a PRV is assessed.
PRVs are only granted after assessment of many factors. Some of these are nomination by an employer, affiliations with family members already living in Australia and the business skills you can offer Australia.
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Application Form: -
If you need to download the application forms to submit an application to FIRB, these application forms are available by visiting the application forms page on FIRB website.
Contact FIRB: -
For all further inquiries to contact FIRB, please click here by visiting the contact details page on FIRB website to choose which options are available for you.
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If FIRB approval is given for a foreign citizen or company to buy vacant land, or an existing property which is to be converted into residential property (e.g. a former factory or warehouse), the purchasers must start the building or refurbishing work within a year of receiving approval to purchase and there would need to be proof that the building/refurbishing will be of assistance to the community and its housing needs.
Please Notes: -
Fines on individual of up to AUD50,000 and on companies of up to AUD250,000 can be imposed if there is no notification for prior approval received by FIRB property is nevertheless bought.
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Want to be sure that you meet the criteria for an Australian visa options?
Register online and get the answers NOW!
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