Two months ago, Sean Hardwick was preparing to call tools down at a moment's notice.
Fortunately, as other sectors came grinding to a halt, the builder and Hardwick Projects director has maintained work throughout the pandemic, although the future remained uncertain.
"We came into this period pretty strong having contracts already in place and some in the drafting process which did get approved," he said.
Clients began to drop off, and then slowly creep back as the bleak situation appeared a little brighter.
One client who put a project on ice due to the impact of COVID-19, Mr Hardwick was sure would be attracted back by the $25,000 grants on offer from the federal government for new builds and major home renovation worth more than $150,000.
"It will be very enticing for our up and coming potential clients. I think it's fantastic," he said.
The $670 million HomeBuilder scheme will be implemented by states and territories and is expected to help more than 27,000 households buy or renovate.
In the ACT, modelling from Ernst and Young released by Master Builders found the grants would lead to 500 new homes built, 1890 jobs created with a $660 million boost to the local economy.
The announcement came as the ACT Government revealed it would waive or reduce stamp duty for residential land and off-the-plan apartment purchases made in the next 12 months.
Chief Minster Andrew Barr said the two schemes would provide certainty of a long-term pipeline of housing construction in the ACT.
Mr Barr said there were shortfalls with the federal government's program which state and territory leaders hadn't been consulted on.
"It's not how we would have designed the scheme, there are some challenges with it but we'll do our best to implement it as soon as possible," he said.
He said the government would work towards an "ACT specific scheme" but changes must get federal approval.
Master Builders ACT CEO Michael Hopkins welcomed the grants and said Canberrans had already shown interest in taking up the offer.
"Many of these consumers want to know more about how they can engage a licensed builder or qualified trade contractor for their next project," he said.
ACT Property Council boss Adina Cirson said the schemes were a "lifeline" to the building industry.
"The challenge for the property sector here is being able to meet the demand that is going to be created," she said.
"What this will do is provide some confidence to the building and construction sector that buyers are going to be wanting to build and to renovate."
To protect against the risk of inflated pricing through the HomeBuilder grants restrictions are in place. For example, builders must be able to demonstrate the contract is comparable with 2018 prices and can only be undertaken by builders who had a license before it was announced.
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Mr Barr said there was a risk of inflated prices with the HomeBuilder program, not posed by the stamp duty scheme.
"Because of the price thresholds we have put in place in relation to off-the-plan purchases, that will put some downward pressure on prices to keep them below those thresholds to eliminate stamp duty altogether," he said.
The scheme is expected to be implemented via a National Partnership Agreement between the federal and territory government which has not been finalised.
