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.
First Home Owner Grant
Victoria pays a one off $10,000 grant when you buy or build your first new home valued up to $750,000. New means never occupied: a newly built house, an off the plan apartment, or a substantially renovated property. Established homes do not qualify for the grant, though they do qualify for the duty exemption below.
Every applicant must be 18 or older and at least one must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident (New Zealand citizens qualify too since November 2025). Neither you nor your spouse can have owned and lived in an Australian residential property on or after July 2000, and you need to move in within 12 months and stay at least 12 continuous months.
Your lender or broker usually lodges the application with your loan, so the grant is ready at settlement. Applying directly with the State Revenue Office works too, within 12 months of settlement.
Official source: State Revenue Office Victoria
Stamp duty exemption and concession
Victoria wipes out land transfer duty entirely on a first home valued up to $600,000, and unlike the grant this covers new homes, established homes and vacant land alike. Between $600,001 and $750,000 the duty phases in on a sliding scale, and above $750,000 you pay the standard rate.
The saving is huge at the threshold: on a $600,000 home a normal buyer pays about $31,000 in duty and you pay nothing. Your conveyancer claims it during the transfer, there is no separate application to chase.
One bonus worth knowing if you are buying an apartment or townhouse off the plan: a temporary concession with no price cap applies to contracts signed before 21 April 2027, on top of the first home buyer thresholds. Ask your conveyancer to run both and take the better outcome.
Official source: State Revenue Office Victoria
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 to your lender, so you skip Lenders Mortgage Insurance and its $15,000 to $35,000 sting.
Since October 2025 there are no income caps and no limit on places. In Victoria the price cap is $950,000 for Melbourne and Geelong and $650,000 for the rest of the state. You need to move in within six months of settlement, and you apply through your lender or broker.
Official source: firsthomebuyers.gov.au (Housing Australia)
First Home Super Saver Scheme
Build your deposit inside super, where savings are taxed at 15% instead of your marginal rate. Contribute up to $15,000 a year voluntarily, then release up to $50,000 per person plus associated earnings when you buy. A couple can pull out up to $100,000 between them.
Request the release through the ATO before you sign a contract and allow a few weeks for the money to arrive.
Official source: Australian Taxation Office
Help to Buy: the government co-buys with you
Worth a serious look in Victoria because the state ran its own shared equity fund for years and closed it to new entrants in September 2025. Help to Buy is the federal replacement: the government takes up to a 40% stake in a new home or 30% in an established one, you need only a 2% deposit, and there is no rent or interest on the government share.
It is income tested at $103,000 for singles and $165,000 for couples (these caps rose on 1 July 2026), with Victorian price caps of $950,000 for Melbourne and Geelong and $650,000 elsewhere. Places are limited to 10,000 a year nationally and a fresh round opened on 1 July 2026. One trade off: you cannot use Help to Buy and the 5% deposit guarantee together.
Official source: firsthomebuyers.gov.au (Housing Australia)
Three real price points
The same figures the stamp duty calculator uses, applied to three typical purchases in Victoria.
A new townhouse in the outer ring or a house and land package regionally
- FHOG: $10,000
- Duty saved: $24,970
An established unit in the middle suburbs, inside the concession band
- FHOG: not eligible
- Duty saved: $22,713 (you pay $11,357)
Over the $750k ceiling, so full duty applies, but federal schemes still work
- FHOG: not eligible
- Full duty applies: $43,070
How to actually get the money
Run the eligibility checker
Two minutes, every scheme at once, so you know your position before you talk to anyone.
Let your broker lodge the paperwork
The FHOG and the 5% deposit guarantee both go through your lender. A broker who does this weekly lodges them with your loan application at no cost to you.
Duty relief happens at transfer
Your conveyancer claims the exemption or concession when the property transfers. Tell them you are a first home buyer early.
Keep the residency rules
Move in within 12 months and stay at least 12 continuous months, or the State Revenue Office can claw the benefits back.
Straight answers
How much is the first home buyer grant in Victoria in 2026?
The Victorian First Home Owner Grant is $10,000 for new homes valued up to $750,000. It covers newly built homes, off the plan purchases and substantially renovated properties. Established homes do not qualify for the grant, but they do qualify for the stamp duty exemption.
Do first home buyers pay stamp duty in Victoria?
Not on homes up to $600,000. The exemption covers new homes, established homes and vacant land. Between $600,001 and $750,000 a sliding concession applies, and above $750,000 standard duty is payable.
Can I get the grant and the duty exemption together in Victoria?
Yes. On a new home up to $600,000 you can take the $10,000 grant and pay zero duty at the same time, and add the federal 5% deposit guarantee on top if the price is under your area cap.
What happened to the Victorian Homebuyer Fund?
Victoria closed its shared equity fund to new participants in September 2025 after helping more than 16,000 buyers. The federal Help to Buy scheme now fills that role, with up to a 40% government stake in new homes and a 2% minimum deposit.
How long do I have to live in the property in Victoria?
For both the grant and the duty relief, at least one buyer must move in within 12 months of settlement and live there for 12 continuous months as their principal place of residence.