First Home Buyer Grant Eligibility 2026 Australia: Every State + Eligibility Checker

Last reviewed: 4 July 2026 by Anish Puri, Founder & Editor of NestPath.

We re-check this guide monthly against Housing Australia, Treasury, the ATO, and every state revenue office. Caps and rules can shift mid-year, so check your own case before you lodge anything.

If you're buying your first home in Australia in 2026, this is the strongest grant year on record. Three things came together over the past twelve months. The federal first home buyer scheme formerly known as the First Home Guarantee was rebadged as the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, and on 1 October 2025 it lost its income caps and place limits. Help to Buy launched nationwide on 5 December 2025. And the state first home owner grant in your capital, plus its stamp duty concession, still stacks on top of both. A well-organised first home buyer can layer four or five of these onto the same purchase.

The catch is that no two states write the rules the same way, the federal schemes carry their own price caps and residency tests, and one grant that everyone expected to shrink, Queensland's $30,000 first home owner grant, was kept at $30,000 in the June 2026 Queensland Budget rather than dropping back to $15,000. This guide pulls every current grant, concession and scheme into one place: the 2026 dollar amounts that actually apply, the rules on which ones you can combine, and a free checker that tests the lot against your situation.

What changed in 2025/26: read this first

Three policy shifts reshaped the first home buyer landscape, and most older guides haven't caught up:

• 1 October 2025: First Home Guarantee expansion. The 5% deposit, no-LMI federal scheme is now badged as the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme. Income caps were scrapped entirely, the old place limit was abolished, and property price caps went up: Sydney $1.5M, Brisbane $1.0M, Canberra $1.0M, Melbourne $950K, Adelaide $900K, Perth $850K, Hobart $700K, Darwin $600K (check the live cap for your postcode). If you've got a 5% deposit and you're an Australian citizen or permanent resident, you can almost certainly use it.
• 5 December 2025: Help to Buy launched. The shared-equity scheme is live, with 10,000 places a year over four years. The government takes up to 40% equity on a new build or 30% on an established home, you put in as little as a 2% deposit, and you pay no rent on the government's share.
• Queensland $30,000 FHOG kept, not cut. The $30,000 grant for new builds was widely expected to halve to $15,000 on 1 July 2026, but the June 2026 Queensland Budget kept it at $30,000. There is no longer a looming deadline to sign before.

One more deadline worth circling. The 2026 Budget set out that from 1 July 2027, negative gearing will be limited to new builds and the 50% capital gains tax discount will be replaced by cost-base indexation plus a 30% minimum tax rate (per the ATO). Properties held at 7:30pm AEST on 12 May 2026 are grandfathered, and your own home isn't touched: the main-residence exemption stays. The likely side effect is a wave of investor activity pulled forward into late 2026 and early 2027. First home buyers who can settle before that pulse are in a better spot.

Government schemes for first home buyers in 2026: the five you can stack

Most first home buyers who do this well end up combining at least three of these government schemes. Here's the headline rule before the detail: state grants, state stamp duty relief, the 5% Deposit Scheme and FHSSS all stack on the same purchase. The one big either/or is Help to Buy versus the 5% Deposit Scheme, where you generally pick one, not both.

1. State First Home Owner Grant (FHOG): a one-off cash grant from your state revenue office, generally for new builds only. From $10K to $50K depending on the state.
2. State stamp duty exemption or concession: every mainland state plus the ACT and NT now has some form of first home buyer stamp duty relief, with thresholds running from $500K to over $1M.
3. Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme (formerly the First Home Guarantee): buy with a 5% deposit, no LMI, no income cap, unlimited places. The single most leveraged tool on the list.
4. Help to Buy shared equity scheme: the government takes up to 40% equity, you put down 2%. Income-tested ($103K singles, $165K couples and single parents) and capped at 10,000 places a year.
5. First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSSS): save your deposit inside super at the concessional tax rate. Up to $50,000 in total voluntary contributions, $15,000 a year. Available in every state.

Here's how the five federal-level schemes compare at a glance:

For the two single-parent and shared-equity paths in more detail, see how the Family Home Guarantee works and how Help to Buy compares to the 5% Deposit Scheme.

State first home owner grants and stamp duty thresholds in 2026

First home buyer grants and stamp duty thresholds by state, current as of 4 July 2026. Verify the live figure with your state revenue office before you sign.

A few state notes worth pulling out. Each block ends with a deep link to the full state guide, where the live thresholds and application steps are kept current.

New South Wales

NSW gives a $10,000 first home owner grant for new builds under $600K, a hard cap across most of Sydney, but workable in regional NSW and outer-Sydney house-and-land packages. The bigger lever is the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme, which delivers a full stamp duty exemption up to $800,000 and a sliding concession to $1M on both new and existing homes. Do first home buyers pay stamp duty in NSW? Not on a qualifying home under $800K, which alone saves a Sydney buyer roughly $20K to $31K. Read the full NSW first home buyer grants and concessions guide.

Victoria

Victoria offers a $10,000 FHOG for new builds under $750K, plus a full stamp duty exemption to $600K and a sliding concession to $750K. Do first home buyers pay stamp duty in VIC? No, up to $600,000; between $600K and $750K you pay a reduced amount. Victoria scrapped its regional FHOG in 2021, so there's no longer a regional top-up. Full breakdown in our VIC first home buyer grants guide.

Queensland: the $30K grant cliff

Queensland's first home owner grant is $30,000 for new builds. It was widely expected to halve to $15,000 from 1 July 2026, but the June 2026 Queensland Budget kept it at the full $30,000, so there is no longer a deadline racing towards you. On a new build it is the contract date that fixes your entitlement, not settlement. Do first home buyers pay stamp duty in QLD? There's no cap on new builds, and a full exemption up to $700,000 on established homes (a reduced concession runs to $799,999). See our QLD first home buyer grants guide for application timing.

Western Australia

WA's $10,000 FHOG currently applies to new builds up to $750,000 south of the 26th parallel. First home buyer stamp duty relief is currently a full exemption up to $500,000 on new and established homes, with a concession running to $700,000. The WA 2026-27 Housing Taxation Package, announced in the 7 May 2026 Budget, lifts the FHOG cap to $800,000 and the duty exemption/concession to $600,000/$800,000, but it hasn't commenced yet (expected from around 28 July 2026), and RevenueWA reassesses and refunds eligible contracts dated on or after 7 May 2026 once it does. But the real WA story is Keystart, the state-backed lender that does home loans with as little as a 2% deposit and no LMI. It's income-tested but generous ($155K singles, $228K couples in Perth Metro), with property price caps up to $860,000 metro. Do first home buyers pay stamp duty in WA? Today, not under $500K; you pay a reduced concessional rate from $500K to $700K (for example, a $600,000 first home pays roughly $13,630 right now). That $0 band lifts to $600,000 once the announced package commences. Full WA breakdown: WA first home buyer grants and Keystart.

South Australia

SA pays a $15,000 first home owner grant with no value cap since 6 June 2024, and the genuinely underrated part is $0 stamp duty on new homes and vacant land, with no price cap, for contracts on or after 6 June 2024. That combination is a national outlier. The one thing to be clear on: this relief is for new builds and land, so an established home doesn't get the first home buyer stamp duty exemption. SA also runs HomeStart Finance, the state-backed lender that does low-deposit loans (a 2% Graduate Loan, 5% standard) and shared-equity products for buyers locked out of mainstream finance. Do first home buyers pay stamp duty in SA? Not a cent on a new build. See SA first home buyer grants and HomeStart.

Australian Capital Territory

The ACT scrapped its FHOG in 2019 and replaced it with the Home Buyer Concession Scheme (HBCS), a stamp duty concession that, from 1 July 2026, became a full abolition of first home buyer stamp duty. There is now no property value cap, no income test and no taper: every eligible first home buyer in the ACT pays zero stamp duty, at any price. That makes the ACT one of the strongest deals in the country, and it no longer matters what you earn or how much you spend. Details: ACT first home buyer concessions.

Tasmania

Tasmania's first home owner grant is now $20,000 for eligible new-build transactions from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 ($10,000 base plus a $10,000 boost), down from the $30,000 that ran to 30 June 2026 (per the State Revenue Office Tasmania). The separate 100% stamp duty exemption on established homes valued up to $750,000 has now ended: it applied only to purchases that settled between 18 February 2024 and 30 June 2026, so it is no longer available. Full breakdown: TAS first home buyer grants guide.

Northern Territory

The NT's HomeGrown Territory grant pays first home buyers up to $50,000 for new builds, the highest grant amount in Australia, in place for contracts signed to 30 September 2027 after the window was extended. The NT no longer offers a general first home buyer stamp duty discount, but house-and-land packages are fully exempt under the HLPE until 30 June 2027. It's a small market with strict residency rules, but the dollar incentive is unmatched. Details: NT first home buyer grants guide.

2026 deadlines to watch

A handful of these schemes are time-limited. If any apply to you, the dates below are the ones to put in your calendar.

Some of these may get extended at a future budget, which is exactly why we re-check this page monthly. But you can't plan around an extension that hasn't happened, so treat the dates above as real until a state revenue office says otherwise.

The federal stack: Guarantees, Help to Buy and FHSSS

Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme (formerly First Home Guarantee)

Since 1 October 2025, this is the headline federal scheme. You buy with a 5% deposit, the federal government guarantees the gap to 20%, and the lender treats the loan as if you'd put down 20%, so you pay no Lenders Mortgage Insurance. On a $700K purchase that's roughly $20,000 to $28,000 saved in LMI alone. Run your own number through the LMI calculator to see what you'd save.

What changed in October 2025: no income caps (they used to be $125K singles / $200K couples), no place limit (it used to be 35,000 to 50,000 a financial year), and higher property price caps. Eligibility now comes down to being an Australian citizen or permanent resident, a genuine first home buyer, an owner-occupier, with at least 5% genuine savings and a purchase within the relevant price cap. Most major lenders are in, and your broker can tell you which ones offer the best rate on a guarantee loan.

Family Home Guarantee

This one's for single parents or single legal guardians of at least one dependent. Same no-LMI mechanism, but you only need a 2% deposit. Full eligibility and the application process are in our Family Home Guarantee guide.

Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee

Same 5% deposit, no-LMI mechanism, but reserved for buyers who've lived in a regional area for the prior 12 months and are buying in that region. There are 10,000 places a year on a separate quota from the main scheme.

Help to Buy: the December 2025 launch

Help to Buy is a shared equity scheme, which makes it fundamentally different from the Guarantees. The government doesn't lend you anything; it takes an ownership stake. Here's how it works:

• You put down as little as a 2% deposit.
• The government contributes up to 40% of the price on a new build, or 30% on an existing home.
• You take a mortgage for the rest and pay no rent on the government's share.
• When you sell, refinance, or your income exceeds the threshold for two consecutive years, you buy the government out at the then-current market value.
• Income caps are $103,000 for singles and $165,000 for couples and single parents from 1 July 2026 (indexed each year). Property price caps apply by location, in bands similar to the 5% Deposit Scheme.
• There are 10,000 places a year, allocated through participating lenders.

The trade-off: when the home goes up in value, the government's share goes up with it. You're sharing the upside. That's worth it if it's the only way you get into the market, but it changes the long-term wealth maths compared with a 5% Deposit Scheme loan you fully own. This is the one scheme you generally can't combine with the 5% Deposit Scheme, so it's a real fork in the road.

First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSSS)

FHSSS is the quiet overachiever, and almost anyone with a taxable income can use it. It lets you save your deposit inside super at the concessional 15% tax rate instead of your marginal rate (which might be 32.5% or 37%). You can withdraw up to $50,000 in total voluntary contributions ($15,000 a financial year) plus deemed earnings and use it as a deposit. The tax saving alone is typically $4,000 to $10,000 for someone saving the full $50K, and it stacks with everything else on this page. Tracking your deposit alongside it? Our deposit tracker keeps the running total honest. Mechanics and pitfalls are in our First Home Super Saver Scheme guide.

The cheapest entry path by state

If your goal is the smallest cash out of pocket on settlement, the best combination changes by state. These are rough rankings for a buyer with a 5% deposit on a median-priced home. Confirm the live figures with your state revenue office before you bank on any of them.

• QLD (new build): $30K FHOG, zero stamp duty on new builds, and the 5% Deposit Scheme (no LMI). On a $700K new build that's $30K in grant plus roughly $20K saved in LMI. The June 2026 Queensland Budget kept the grant at $30,000 rather than halving it, so this remains one of the cheapest entry points in Australia.
• NT (new build): $50K HomeGrown grant, the uncapped HLPE stamp duty exemption, and the 5% Deposit Scheme. The highest grant in the country, in a thin market.
• SA (new build): $15K FHOG, $0 stamp duty on new builds with no cap, HomeStart's 2% deposit, and the 5% Deposit Scheme. SA's uncapped new-build stamp duty rule is quietly one of the best new-build deals in the country and applies at any price point.
• WA (Perth metro): $10K FHOG, stamp duty exemption to $600K, and Keystart's 2% deposit, which usually beats the federal 5% Deposit Scheme on cash needed.
• ACT (any first home buyer): Zero stamp duty at any price with no income test from 1 July 2026, plus the 5% Deposit Scheme, is hard to beat.
• NSW and VIC: Stamp duty exemption plus the 5% Deposit Scheme plus FHSSS is the standard play. The FHOG only helps if you're buying a new build under the relatively low caps.

Help to Buy is the right move only if your income or savings won't carry the repayments on a full mortgage even with no LMI. The lower deposit helps, but you're trading future equity for getting in now. Before you commit either way, model the repayments in the mortgage repayment calculator and check the duty saving on your exact price in the stamp duty calculator.

How to actually claim each scheme

• State FHOG and stamp duty exemption: applied for through your conveyancer or solicitor at the time of contract. You sign a first home owner declaration. Some states pay the FHOG on settlement, others within about 10 business days. Your conveyancer handles the paperwork, but make sure they've lodged it before settlement day. Find a NestPath-vetted conveyancer if you don't have one yet.
• 5% Deposit Scheme / Family Home Guarantee / Regional Guarantee: applied for through a participating lender at the time of your home loan application. Housing Australia administers the scheme; your lender confirms eligibility when your loan is approved.
• Help to Buy: applied for through participating lenders. Place reservation is competitive, so get your application in as early in the financial year as you can.
• FHSSS: applied for through the ATO before you sign a contract. You request a determination, then a release authority. The timing matters, so get it wrong and you can disqualify yourself.

Most buyers route this through a broker rather than going it alone. A broker who runs first home buyer loans every week knows which lenders process Guarantee applications fastest and which revenue offices bounce paperwork over a typo. Find a NestPath-vetted first home buyer broker, and run your numbers through the borrowing power calculator before you apply so you know what you're working with.

The mistakes that disqualify good applicants

• Exceeding the income cap for Help to Buy. From 1 July 2026 it's $103K for singles and $165K for couples and single parents (indexed each year). Those caps did not disappear in the October 2025 reforms; only the 5% Deposit Scheme lost its caps.
• Buying an established home and expecting the FHOG. Every state's first home owner grant is restricted to new builds. The stamp duty exemption usually covers established homes too (SA is the main exception, where the new-build relief doesn't extend to existing homes), but the cash grant does not.
• Missing the residency requirement. Most states require you to live in the home as your principal residence for 6 to 12 months within the first year of settlement. Investor purchases don't qualify.
• Claiming the FHOG when your partner has previously owned property. Almost every scheme treats "first home buyer" as a household status, so a partner's ownership history disqualifies the pair.
• Withdrawing FHSSS contributions after signing. You have to apply for the FHSSS determination before the contract date. After you sign, you're locked out.
• Assuming the QLD grant fell to $15,000. The $30,000 QLD grant was expected to halve on 1 July 2026, but the June 2026 Queensland Budget kept it at $30,000. Don't leave money on the table thinking it's already been cut. On a new build it is the contract signature date that fixes your entitlement, not settlement.

For the full pre-purchase walk-through, see our stamp duty by state breakdown and our guide to how much deposit you actually need.

First home buyer grants 2026: FAQ

How much is the first home owners grant in QLD in 2026?

It's $30,000 for new builds. The grant was widely expected to halve to $15,000 from 1 July 2026, but the June 2026 Queensland Budget kept it at the full $30,000, so there's no deadline racing towards you. The contract date is what counts, not the settlement date, according to the Queensland Revenue Office. See our QLD grants guide for the application steps.

Can you combine or stack first home buyer grants?

Yes, mostly. Your state FHOG, your state stamp duty concession, the 5% Deposit Scheme and FHSSS all stack on the same purchase. The main exception is that you generally can't use Help to Buy and the 5% Deposit Scheme together, so you pick one. The eligibility checker works out the best legal combination for your situation.

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

No. Every state's first home owner grant is for new builds only. An established home can still qualify for the stamp duty concession in most states, just not the cash grant. South Australia is the exception, where the first home buyer stamp duty relief is also limited to new builds and vacant land.

Will the First Home Guarantee be extended in 2026?

It was expanded, not ended. From 1 October 2025 the First Home Guarantee was rebadged the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, with income caps and place limits removed and higher price caps applied by Housing Australia. We compare it with the alternatives in our Help to Buy vs First Home Guarantee guide.

What is the first home buyer scheme in NSW in 2026?

NSW offers a $10,000 First Home Owner Grant for new builds under $600K, plus the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme, a full stamp duty exemption up to $800,000 and a sliding concession to $1M, on both new and existing homes. The full detail is in our NSW grants guide.

Do I still qualify if my partner has previously owned a home?

Usually no. Almost every scheme treats "first home buyer" as a household test, so a partner's prior ownership generally disqualifies the pair. There are narrow exceptions in some states for property a partner owned but never lived in, so check your state revenue office or run the checker.

Are there still income caps on the 5% Deposit Scheme?

No. The income caps ($125K single / $200K couple) were removed on 1 October 2025. Help to Buy still has caps of $103,000 for singles and $165,000 for couples and single parents (indexed from 1 July 2026), so it's worth checking which scheme fits your income with the eligibility checker.

One last thing: verify the live figures before you apply

Grant amounts, income caps and price thresholds change on state government schedules and federal budget cycles. The figures here are accurate as of 4 July 2026, but always confirm with your state revenue office, with Housing Australia (for the federal Guarantees and Help to Buy), and with your lender before you sign a contract. The numbers move; the principles don't. When you're ready, the eligibility checker is the fastest way to see your own total, and your journey map shows where this fits in the path from "what can I afford?" to keys in hand.