What can you stack?
Pick your situation and see every scheme that applies, with real figures.
Figures assume you meet the standard first home buyer tests (age, citizenship or permanent residency, no previous property, and living in the home). The two minute checker walks through all of them.
Stamp duty abolished for first home buyers
From 1 July 2026 the ACT charges eligible first home buyers zero conveyance duty, full stop. The old income test (previously capped at $250,000 household income) and the old property value limit (previously $1,020,000) are both gone. New homes, established homes and vacant residential land all qualify.
The fine print that remains: every buyer must be an individual aged 18 or over, and neither you nor your domestic partner can have held any interest in any property, anywhere in the world, in the five years before the transaction. At least one buyer must live in the home continuously for a year, starting within a year of settlement.
On a $900,000 Canberra home the duty you skip is about $28,000, and on a $1,100,000 home it tops $40,000, which beats every state grant in the country.
Official source: ACT Revenue Office
Why there is no grant in the ACT
The ACT scrapped its First Home Owner Grant back in 2019 and put the money into cutting duty instead. With duty now abolished for first home buyers entirely, the trade has landed firmly in buyers favour: a grant caps out at a fixed number, while the duty saving grows with the price of the home.
If you see a site promising an ACT grant in 2026, it is wrong.
Official source: ACT Revenue Office
First Home Guarantee: 5% deposit, no LMI
The federal First Home Guarantee, now marketed as the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, lets you buy with a 5% deposit while the government guarantees the rest. No income caps and no place limits since October 2025.
The ACT price cap is $1,000,000 across the territory. Move in within six months of settlement. Apply through your lender or broker, and it stacks with the duty abolition.
Official source: firsthomebuyers.gov.au (Housing Australia)
Help to Buy: the government co-buys with you
The federal shared equity scheme takes up to a 40% stake in a new home or 30% in an established one, with a 2% minimum deposit and no rent or interest on the government share. Income tested at $103,000 for singles and $165,000 for couples since 1 July 2026, with an ACT price cap of $1,000,000.
Places are limited to 10,000 a year nationally and a fresh round opened on 1 July 2026. You cannot combine it with the 5% deposit guarantee, so run both against your numbers and pick one.
Official source: firsthomebuyers.gov.au (Housing Australia)
First Home Super Saver Scheme
Build your deposit inside super, taxed at 15% instead of your marginal rate. Contribute up to $15,000 a year voluntarily and release up to $50,000 per person plus associated earnings when you buy. Request the release through the ATO before signing and allow a few weeks.
Official source: Australian Taxation Office
Three real price points
The same figures the stamp duty calculator uses, applied to three typical purchases in the ACT.
An established townhouse: zero duty from 1 July 2026
- FHOG: not eligible
- Duty saved: $17,048
An established house: zero duty, about $28,000 saved
- FHOG: not eligible
- Duty saved: $28,058
A new build over the old cap: still zero duty now
- FHOG: not eligible
- Duty saved: $40,358
How to actually get the money
Check the five year rule first
The duty abolition requires that you and your partner have held no property interest anywhere in the world for five years. If that is you, everything else is straightforward.
Let your broker lodge the guarantee
The 5% deposit guarantee goes through your lender with your loan application.
Duty relief is self assessed
You claim the concession at transfer through your conveyancer. Get the eligibility right, because a penalty applies if you claim it wrongly.
Keep the residency rule
At least one buyer must live in the home continuously for a year, starting within a year of settlement.
Straight answers
Is there a first home owner grant in the ACT in 2026?
No. The ACT abolished its grant in 2019 and put the money into duty relief instead. From 1 July 2026 eligible first home buyers pay zero stamp duty with no income test and no price cap, which on most Canberra homes is worth more than any grant in the country.
Do first home buyers pay stamp duty in the ACT?
Not from 1 July 2026. The Home Buyer Concession Scheme now charges eligible buyers zero conveyance duty on new homes, established homes and vacant land, with no income test and no property value cap. Before that date it was income tested and capped at $1,020,000.
Who counts as eligible for the ACT duty abolition?
All buyers must be individuals aged 18 or over, and no buyer or their domestic partner can have held an interest in any property anywhere in the world during the previous five years. At least one buyer must live in the home continuously for a year, starting within a year of settlement.
Can I combine the duty abolition with the 5% deposit scheme?
Yes. They are independent: the duty abolition is an ACT tax setting and the 5% deposit guarantee is a federal lending scheme with a $1,000,000 cap in the ACT. Help to Buy is the one that cannot be combined with the 5% guarantee.