First Home Buyer Schemes and Grants by State in 2026

Help for first home buyers comes from two places. The federal government runs schemes that lower the deposit you need, and each state and territory runs its own grants and stamp duty concessions. They change often, and several changed in 2025 and 2026. This guide sets out what each one offered when we checked the official pages on 29 October 2026.

HomeLoansCalculator.au is a general information site run by Dominet BV. This page is general information only and is not financial advice. It does not consider your circumstances. We are not a lender or a mortgage broker and we can't tell you whether you qualify. Check eligibility with the scheme administrator, your state revenue office, the lender or a licensed professional before you act. Figures were checked on 29 October 2026. Read our general information notice. Each scheme has more conditions than we can list here, so read the official page before you rely on any of them.

Federal schemes

Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme

This is the scheme many people still call the Home Guarantee Scheme or the First Home Guarantee. Housing Australia's First Home Buyers site says it was renamed the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme. The idea is that the government guarantees part of the loan to the lender, so you can borrow up to 95% of the property value without paying lenders mortgage insurance.

What changed from 1 October 2025, according to the scheme site:

• no income caps
• no waitlists, with unlimited places
• higher property price caps
• single parents and legal guardians can buy with a 2% deposit (the Family Home Guarantee part of the scheme)

Main eligibility rules from the scheme's Information Guide:

• you must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident at the date you sign the loan
• you need a deposit of at least 5% of the property value
• you must be a first home buyer, or not have owned property in Australia in the last 10 years (both applicants, if joint)
• you must live in the home (no investment properties)
• you must be at least 18
• the loan must be an owner-occupier principal-and-interest loan from a Participating Lender, with a term of up to 30 years
• if you have 20% or more saved after covering other purchase costs such as stamp duty and legal fees, the loan isn't eligible

You can't apply directly to Housing Australia. You apply through a Participating Lender as part of a home loan application. Once pre-approved, you have 90 days to find a home and sign a contract.

Property price caps (as listed on 29 October 2026). Both the price and the lender's valuation must be at or under the cap.

For the territories and other areas:

The regional centres with the higher cap are Central Coast, Coffs Harbour-Grafton, Illawarra, Mid North Coast, Richmond-Tweed, and Newcastle and Lake Macquarie in NSW, Geelong in Victoria, and the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast in Queensland. The scheme has a postcode search tool and says to confirm the cap with your lender.

Worked example (example figures). A $600,000 home in Adelaide is under the $900,000 cap. A 5% deposit is $30,000, so the loan is $570,000, an LVR of 95%. Without the scheme, a lender would usually charge LMI at that LVR. With it, there's no LMI, but you still pay stamp duty and other buying costs, and you borrow more than you would with a 20% deposit, so you pay more interest.

The scheme site also points out that you must keep meeting its conditions, such as living in the home. If you don't, the guarantee may end and the lender may ask you to pay LMI or other costs.

Help to Buy

Help to Buy is a shared equity scheme. Moneysmart explains that you need a minimum 2% deposit and a loan from a participating lender, and the government can contribute up to 30% of the price of an existing home or up to 40% of a new home. The government then owns that share of the property. You repay it when you can or when you sell. Housing Australia's site says applications opened on 5 December 2025 and the scheme is open to first home buyers and some people returning to home ownership.

First Home Super Saver Scheme

The First Home Buyers site describes the First Home Super Saver Scheme as a way to save up to $50,000, plus associated earnings, through voluntary super contributions toward your first home. The ATO runs it and sets the detailed rules on how much you can put in each year and how to release it. Check the ATO's page before you start, because tax applies when you release the money.

State and territory help at a glance

The details for each are below.

New South Wales

First Home Owner (New Homes) Grant. $10,000 for a new home. Revenue NSW says the home must be worth no more than $600,000, or $750,000 for land plus a building contract. For contracts from 1 July 2023 you must live there for 12 continuous months.

First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme. For contracts exchanged on or after 1 July 2023, there is no transfer duty on a new or existing home valued at $800,000 or less, and a concessional rate for a home valued above $800,000 and less than $1,000,000. For vacant land, there is no duty at $350,000 or less, and a concessional rate above $350,000 and less than $450,000. You must move in within 12 months and live there for 12 continuous months, and at least one buyer must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

Worked example. A first home buyer pays $750,000 for an established home in NSW. It's under $800,000, so the duty is $0. A buyer who isn't eligible would pay $27,937 at the 2026/27 general rates. Revenue NSW publishes the thresholds but not the concessional rate formula, so for a home above $800,000 and under $1,000,000, use Revenue NSW's First Home Buyers Assistance calculator to get the exact duty.

Victoria

First home buyer duty exemption or concession. SRO Victoria says first home buyers pay no duty on a home with a dutiable value up to $600,000, and a reduced amount of duty from $600,001 to $750,000. Above $750,000 there's no first home buyer duty benefit. It covers new and established homes and vacant land. SRO Victoria doesn't publish the reduced duty formula, so for a home between $600,001 and $750,000, use its land transfer duty calculator to get the exact amount. You must live there for 12 continuous months, starting within 12 months of settlement.

First Home Owner Grant. $10,000 for an eligible new home valued up to $750,000.

Worked example. A first home buyer pays $580,000 for an established home in Victoria. Duty is $0. Someone not eligible would pay $29,870, because the PPR concession stops at $550,000 and the general rate applies ($2,870 plus 6% of $450,000).

Queensland

First home concession. For contracts from 9 June 2024, if the home is valued at $700,000 or less, the first home concession cancels out the home concession rate, so no duty is payable. Between $700,000 and $800,000 the concession steps down in $10,000 bands. At $800,000 or more only the ordinary home concession applies. QRO says the first home concession can save up to $24,525.

First home (new home) concession. For contracts dated 1 May 2025 or later, eligible first home buyers of a new home pay no transfer duty, with no value cap.

First Home Owner Grant. $30,000 for contracts signed on or after 20 November 2023 for a new home valued under $750,000.

Worked examples.

• $650,000 established first home. Home concession duty is $15,100. The first home concession for a home under $710,000 is $17,350, so the duty is $0.
• $750,000 established first home. Home concession duty is $19,600. The concession for $750,000 to $759,999.99 is $8,675. Duty is $19,600 − $8,675 = $10,925.
• QRO's own example: $795,000 gives $21,625 − $1,735 = $19,890.

South Australia

First Home Owner Grant. Up to $15,000 for a new home. For contracts on or after 6 June 2024 there's no property value cap. You must live there for at least 6 months.

First home buyer stamp duty relief. For contracts on or after 6 June 2024, eligible first home buyers pay no stamp duty on a new home or vacant land to build on, with no value cap. RevenueSA's relief doesn't cover established homes.

Worked example. A first home buyer pays $750,000 for an established home in Adelaide. There's no relief for established homes, so the general duty of $35,080 applies. If the same buyer signed for an eligible new home at $750,000, the duty would be $0 and they may also get the grant.

Western Australia

First Home Owner Grant. Up to $10,000 for a new home, with no income or assets test. From 7 May 2026 the price cap is $800,000 south of the 26th parallel (which includes Perth) and $1,000,000 north of it.

First home owner rate of duty. From 7 May 2026, for a home:

• $0 to $600,000: no duty
• $600,001 to $800,000: $16.15 per $100 over $600,000
• over $800,000: the general rate applies

For vacant land, there is no duty up to $450,000, then $20.14 per $100 over $450,000 up to $550,000. WA's 2026-27 Housing Taxation Package page says these changes are now in effect.

Worked example. A first home buyer pays $650,000 for an established home in Perth. The excess over $600,000 is $50,000, or 500 lots of $100. 500 × $16.15 = $8,075. At the general rate it would be $24,890.

Tasmania

First Home Owner Grant. $20,000 for eligible new homes where the transaction starts between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027. It was $30,000 for 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026. You must live there for 6 months.

Established home duty relief. SRO Tasmania says the 100% duty exemption for first home buyers of established homes up to $750,000 applied to settlements from 18 February 2024 to 30 June 2026, and isn't available after 30 June 2026. Unless another concession applies, a first home buyer of an established home now pays the general rate, for example $28,935 on $750,000.

Australian Capital Territory

Home Buyer Concession Scheme. From 1 July 2026, the ACT Revenue Office says eligible buyers pay no duty on a home or vacant land, with no income threshold and no property value limit. Main conditions: you must be an individual aged 18 or over, must not have held an interest in property anywhere (including overseas) in the previous 5 years, and must live in the home for at least a year, starting within a year.

First Home Owner Grant. The ACT stopped its grant on 1 July 2019.

Worked example. An eligible buyer pays $750,000 for a Canberra home. Duty is $0, compared with $19,208 at the owner-occupier rate.

Northern Territory

HomeGrown Territory Grant. $50,000 for first home buyers who buy or build a new home, including off-the-plan and owner-builder homes, with no cap on the price. It replaces the $10,000 First Home Owner Grant. Contracts must be signed between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2027, and you can apply until 30 September 2028. You must live in the home for at least 12 months.

FreshStart New Home Grant. $30,000 for people who already own or have owned a home and buy or build a new one. It can't be combined with the HomeGrown Territory Grant.

House and land package exemption. No stamp duty on an eligible house and land package bought from a building contractor, for contracts signed from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2027. It isn't means tested and has no value cap. At least one buyer must live there for 6 continuous months, starting within 12 months of completion.

Can you combine them?

Sometimes. The federal schemes are run separately from state grants and duty concessions, and the First Home Buyers site says the FHSS can be used with other government home buying schemes. The 5% Deposit Scheme Information Guide reminds you that you still pay stamp duty and other costs yourself. Some programs exclude each other, as with the two NT grants. Check each scheme's rules, and ask your lender or conveyancer how they apply together.

What this means for you

• Look at stamp duty first. In NSW, Victoria, Queensland, WA and the ACT, the duty saving on an established home can be worth more than any grant.
• Grants mostly apply to new homes. If you're buying an established home, don't count on one.
• Check the date rules. Several schemes depend on when you sign the contract or settle, and Tasmania's established home exemption has already ended.
• A 5% deposit means a bigger loan. Run the repayments and borrowing power numbers on the larger amount.
• Living in the home is a condition of almost every scheme. Moving out early can mean paying back the benefit.

Work out your duty with the stamp duty calculator, or go back to the calculators hub.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Home Guarantee Scheme still running?

Yes, under a new name. Housing Australia's First Home Buyers site calls it the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme. Since 1 October 2025 it has no income caps and no waitlists, and price caps apply by area.

Can I get the First Home Owner Grant on an established home?

In most states, no. NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, WA and Tasmania pay their grants on new homes. The NT HomeGrown Territory Grant is also for new homes. The ACT has no grant.

What's the price cap for the 5% Deposit Scheme in my area?

As listed on 29 October 2026, it ranges from $1,500,000 in Sydney and some NSW regional centres to $500,000 in regional South Australia. Use the scheme's postcode search tool and confirm with your lender.

Do I pay stamp duty as a first home buyer?

It depends on the state and the price. You may pay none in NSW up to $800,000, Victoria up to $600,000, Queensland up to $700,000, WA up to $600,000, the ACT if eligible at any price, and on eligible new homes in South Australia and Queensland. Our stamp duty guide has the general rates.

I owned a home years ago. Am I a first home buyer?

For most state grants and concessions, generally not. The federal 5% Deposit Scheme does accept people who haven't owned property in Australia in the last 10 years. The ACT scheme looks at the previous 5 years. Check each scheme's definition.

Do these schemes mean I don't need LMI?

Only the 5% Deposit Scheme removes LMI, and only while you meet its conditions. State grants and duty concessions reduce your costs but don't change LMI. See our LMI guide.