Do I qualify for a State First Home Owner’s Grant?
The First Home Owner Grant is a national scheme funded by the States and Territories and administered under each jurisdiction's own legislation. That structure matters, because there is no single grant — there are eight, and they differ on amount, on property value caps, on whether the home must be newly built, and on the concessions that sit alongside them. A first home buyer in one State can receive a one-off tax-free payment plus a transfer-duty (stamp duty) discount; the same buyer in another State may qualify for one and not the other. The question is rarely "is there a grant"; it is "which of these schemes I actually fit, and how that shapes the deposit and the loan."
The eligibility tests share a common spine across the States. You generally need to be at least 18. The applicants must be natural persons — a company or trust cannot claim the grant. At least one applicant must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident. And you must move in: most States require you to occupy the home as your principal place of residence for a continuous period, typically six months, beginning within twelve months of settlement or completion of construction. Beyond that spine, the detail diverges — particularly around price thresholds and whether established dwellings qualify or only new builds — which is why checking your own State's current rules before you commit to a property is worth the few minutes it takes.
Where the grant fits in the loan
A grant is not a deposit on its own, but it changes the arithmetic of one. Lenders treat the grant as part of your genuine funds to complete, which can lift your effective contribution, reduce the loan-to-value ratio, and in some cases move you below the threshold where lenders mortgage insurance applies. Where the grant is tied to new construction, the timing also matters — the payment often lands at a specific stage of the build, and the loan needs to be structured so the funding sequence lines up with the builder's progress claims. Getting that order right is the difference between a grant that smooths your purchase and one that arrives after the money was already needed.
It is also worth mapping the grant against the other first-home concessions you may be entitled to at the same time, such as stamp duty exemptions or thresholds and any shared-equity or guarantee schemes. These interact. A property price that sits just under one cap but over another can change which benefits you keep, so the property and the structure are best decided together rather than in sequence.
Checking your State's current rules
Each State and Territory publishes the grant amount, the eligibility criteria and the value caps that apply where you are buying. Because these are revised regularly, the relevant revenue office is the authoritative source for current figures:
- New South Wales — Revenue NSW
- Victoria — State Revenue Office
- Queensland — Queensland Revenue Office
- South Australia — RevenueSA
- Australian Capital Territory — ACT Revenue Office
- Northern Territory — Territory Revenue Office
- Tasmania — State Revenue Office
- Western Australia — RevenueWA
If you would rather work out which scheme fits before you choose a property — and how the grant, the deposit and the loan should be sequenced around your State's rules — that is worth doing properly. Book a strategy session and we will map where you stand.
General information only — not personal financial product or credit advice. First Home Owner Grant eligibility, amounts and thresholds are set by each State or Territory and change over time; confirm current details with the relevant revenue office. AeFin is an Australian Credit Representative (CR 464548) of Finsure (ACL 384704).