In short
- The first home owner grant and the first home stamp duty concession are two separate tests. Passing one does not mean passing the other.
- In most states, an investment bought on or after 1 July 2000 that you never lived in does not stop the grant.
- Duty concessions are often stricter. In New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT, an earlier investment can cost you the concession.
- The state where you buy your home sets the test. Property you own anywhere in Australia counts, and in some states property overseas counts too.
- Your spouse’s or partner’s property can count, even if they are not on the new title.
Grant and duty: two tests, two answers
The first home owner grant is a payment towards a new home. Each state runs its own grant, and most start from the same ownership rule. In New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, you and your spouse or partner cannot have owned residential property in Australia before 1 July 2000. And you cannot have owned and lived in a home in Australia for 6 continuous months or more on or after that date. Queensland and the Northern Territory count any time you lived in a home you owned, with no 6-month floor. Western Australia counts any time you lived in one before 1 July 2004. South Australia, for contracts from 13 February 2025, counts any earlier ownership at all.
The rule on living there is the one that helps investors. Outside South Australia, if you bought a property after 1 July 2000 and only ever rented it out, it usually does not count against you for the grant.
The stamp duty concession is a different law with its own test. Some states copy the grant test. Others test whether you have ever owned residential property at all, and an investment counts.
So a buyer who owns an investment can be told yes to the grant and no to the duty concession on the same home. The duty saving can be the larger of the two.
Where you live and where the investment is
Neither decides the test. The state where you buy the home you will live in applies its own rules. Ownership anywhere in Australia counts toward those rules. A Queensland investment counts in New South Wales, and a Western Australian investment counts in Victoria.
Property overseas is different in each state. Queensland’s first home concession counts a residence anywhere in the world. The ACT counts property overseas. The New South Wales grant looks only at property in Australia.
Your partner’s property counts
Most states test you and your spouse or partner together. In New South Wales, a spouse who has owned a home rules out the duty concession, whether or not the spouse is on the new purchase. Victoria, the ACT and others apply the same idea to the grant or duty test.
Queensland’s concession works per buyer. The concession applies to the value of the interest each eligible buyer acquires. If only one of you has owned a home, the other may still claim on their share.
State by state: grant and duty after an investment
Checked as at 15 November 2026 against each revenue office’s own pages. Rules and thresholds change, often at budget time. Check the official page on the day you sign.
| State | First home owner grant | Grant still open after a never-lived-in investment? | First home duty concession | Concession still open after an investment? | Live-in rule | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | $10,000 for a new or substantially renovated home. Cap: $600,000 to buy a new home; $750,000 house and land value to build. | Usually yes. Revenue NSW says a property bought after 1 July 2000 and not lived in for more than six continuous months may still leave you eligible. | First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme. No duty on a new or existing home up to $800,000; a concessional rate above $800,000 and under $1,000,000 (contracts from 1 July 2023). | No. You and your spouse or partner must never have owned or co-owned residential property in Australia. | Move in within 12 months and live there for 12 continuous months (contracts from 1 July 2023), for the grant and for the duty scheme. | Revenue NSW |
| Victoria | $10,000 for a new home valued up to $750,000. | Usually yes. SRO gives the example of a buyer who bought a house in 2004, always rented it out, and may still be eligible. | First home buyer duty exemption or concession. No duty up to $600,000; reduced duty from $600,001 to $750,000. | Usually yes. SRO’s test is the same as the grant’s: you are ruled out by a home owned before 1 July 2000, or owned and lived in for 6 continuous months on or after it. Some lender guides say any earlier ownership rules out the concession; SRO does not say that. | At least one buyer lives in the home for 12 continuous months, starting within 12 months of settlement. | State Revenue Office Victoria |
| Queensland | $30,000 for contracts signed on or after 20 November 2023, for a new home valued under $750,000. | Usually yes. QRO says an interest held since 1 July 2000 solely for investment may still leave you eligible, with evidence you never lived there (leases, bills, tax returns). | First home concession, for a home valued under $800,000; first home (new home) concession, full, with no value cap, for contracts from 1 May 2025. | No. Both first home concessions rule out a buyer who has ever held an interest in a residence anywhere in Australia or overseas. The home concession may still apply: QRO says you can claim it even when you have owned a home before. | Grant: move in within 1 year and live there continuously for 6 months. Concession: move in within 1 year of settlement and do not lease the whole home in the year after moving in. | Queensland Revenue Office |
| Western Australia | Up to $10,000 for a new home. Cap from 7 May 2026: $800,000 south of the 26th parallel (including Perth); $1,000,000 north of it. | Usually yes, with one extra rule. Living in a home you owned for any time before 1 July 2004 rules you out, as does 6 continuous months from that date. | First home owner rate of duty. From 7 May 2026, no duty on a home up to $600,000; a concessional rate from $600,001 to $800,000. | Usually yes. The rate depends on meeting the grant’s eligibility rules. | Live in the home for 6 continuous months, starting within 12 months; RevenueWA applies it to all applicants. | RevenueWA, Department of Treasury and Finance |
| South Australia | Up to $15,000 for a new home; no value cap for contracts from 6 June 2024. | No, for contracts from 13 February 2025. Owning or having owned residential property in Australia rules you out, lived in or not. Before that date, a property never lived in for 6 months did not. | Stamp duty relief for eligible first home buyers. Full relief on a new home or vacant land, with no value cap, for contracts from 6 June 2024. | No, for contracts from 13 February 2025. Any earlier interest in Australian residential property rules you out. | All applicants live in the home for 6 continuous months, starting within 12 months of settlement. | RevenueSA |
| Tasmania | $20,000 for transactions from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, for a new home. | Usually yes. The rule is not having owned residential property before 1 July 2000, or owned and lived in one for more than six months after it. | None found for first home buyers as at 15 November 2026. The established home exemption (up to $750,000) ended for transfers after 30 June 2026. | Not applicable while no concession runs. When it ran, buyers needed never to have owned a home in Australia. | Grant: live in the home for 6 continuous months, starting within 12 months of settlement or completion. | State Revenue Office Tasmania |
| Australian Capital Territory | No first home owner grant; payments ceased on 1 July 2019. | Not applicable. | Home Buyer Concession Scheme. From 1 July 2026, an exemption from duty, with no income test and no property price cap. | Only once 5 years have passed. You and your domestic partner must not have owned or held an interest in any property, in the ACT, Australia or overseas, in the 5 years before the transaction. | Move in within one year and live there continuously for at least one year. | ACT Revenue Office |
| Northern Territory | HomeGrown Territory grant of $50,000 for a new home, contracts from 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2027; no cap on the price. | Usually yes. TRO’s guide rules out a home owned before 1 July 2000, or a home owned since then that you occupied. TRO’s guide sets no 6-month floor; the nt.gov.au page words it as not having owned a home before. Check with TRO if you lived in the investment at any time. | None found for first home buyers on TRO’s pages as at 15 November 2026. The House and land package exemption removes duty on an eligible new house and land package, contracts from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2027, for any eligible buyer. | The house and land exemption is not a first home test. | Grant: live in the home for 12 months. House and land exemption: one applicant lives there for 6 continuous months, starting within 12 months. | Territory Revenue Office and nt.gov.au |
Federal schemes and an earlier investment
The federal schemes run beside the state ones and have their own tests.
| Scheme | What it does | Ownership test | Does an investment count? | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5% Deposit Scheme (formerly the Home Guarantee Scheme), first home buyer stream | A home loan with a 5% deposit and no lenders mortgage insurance. Since 1 October 2025, no income caps and no limit on places. | A first home buyer, or not having held a freehold interest in real property in Australia in the 10 years before the home loan date. | Yes. It counts whether residential or commercial, investment or owner-occupied, and whether or not you lived in it. The 10 years run from the date you sold. Both buyers in a joint application are tested. | Treasury; First Home Buyers (Housing Australia) |
| First Home Super Saver scheme | Releases voluntary super contributions toward a first home. | Never having owned property in Australia. | Yes. The ATO lists an investment property, vacant land and commercial property. Each person is tested on their own, so a partner’s property does not stop you. | Australian Taxation Office |
| Help to Buy | The Australian Government contributes up to 30% of the price of an existing home or 40% of a new home, as shared equity. Taxable income at or below $103,000 for one applicant or $165,000 for joint applicants and single parents (FY 2026 notice of assessment). | Not currently owning, or beneficially owning, any property in Australia or overseas. Previous owners can apply. | Yes, while you still own it. | First Home Buyers (Housing Australia) |
Four examples
These people are invented. Their numbers are rounded, and each case follows the rules as at 15 November 2026.
Jai has rented out a unit in Queensland since 2021 and has never lived in it. He now buys a new apartment in New South Wales for $580,000 to live in. The $10,000 grant may still be open to him, as the unit was never his home. The duty exemption is not: he has owned residential property in Australia. Had he bought the apartment before the unit, both might have applied.
Mia bought a house in Western Australia in 2019 and has always leased it. She now buys a new townhouse in Victoria for $640,000. Victoria applies its own test, not Western Australia’s. The $10,000 grant may be open, and so may the duty concession, as she has not owned and lived in a home for 6 continuous months.
Sam owns an investment unit. His partner Lee has never owned property. They buy an existing home in Sydney together. Sam’s unit rules both of them out of the duty exemption, even though the unit is in Sam’s name only. In Queensland the result is different: the first home concession applies to the value of Lee’s share, and Sam may claim the home concession on his.
Priya bought a unit in 2018, lived in it for 8 months, then rented it out. Because she lived there for 6 continuous months, the grant is closed to her in most states. Had she moved out after 5 months, the New South Wales grant could still have been open.
Before you buy the investment: four questions
- Which state will your own home be in, and does its duty test count an investment?
- Is your saving on duty there larger than the grant you might keep?
- Will your partner’s property, now or past, count against you both?
- Do you plan to use a federal scheme, and does its ownership test rule out an investment you own?
The 2026 tax changes
The 2026 tax changes, including the negative gearing cut-off for homes bought after 12 May 2026, bear on the investment itself, not on these grants and concessions. Negative gearing after 2026 walks through what changed for investors.
Rules change
This page was checked against each revenue office’s own pages on 15 November 2026. Grants, caps and thresholds are often changed in state budgets. Check the official page, linked below, on the day you sign a contract.
Which comes first changes what you can claim. A Building Pathways lays out each order, investment first or home first, on your own numbers.
Nicholas Lockhart
Sources: Revenue NSW, First Home Owner (New Homes) Grant; Revenue NSW, First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme; Revenue NSW, Eligibility for the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme (guide); Revenue NSW, Grants and schemes; SRO Victoria, First Home Owner Grant overview; SRO Victoria, First home buyer duty exemption or concession; QRO, Eligibility for the first home owner grant; QRO, First home owner grant payment and obligations; QRO, Differences between first home concessions and first home owner grant; QRO, First home concession; QRO, First home (new home) concession; QRO, Home concession; WA Government, About the first home owner grant; WA Government, FHOG Lodgement Guide: Eligibility and obligations; WA Government, Transfer duty assessment (first home owner rate); WA Government, FHOG Lodgement Guide: Terms used (principal place of residence); RevenueSA, First Home Owner Grant; RevenueSA, Stamp Duty Relief for Eligible First Home Buyers; RevenueSA, Videos (first home owner grant); RevenueSA, Eligible properties (stamp duty relief); RevenueSA, Relief available; SRO Tasmania, First Home Owner Grant; SRO Tasmania, First home buyers of established homes duty relief; SRO Tasmania, home page; ACT Revenue Office, About the Home Buyer Concession Scheme; ACT Revenue Office, First Home Owner Grant; ACT Revenue Office, ACT Budget 2026-27 updates; nt.gov.au, Buying or building a new home - HomeGrown Territory; TRO, First Home Owner Grant guide to the application (dated 18 Dec 2025); TRO, House and land package exemption guide to the application; Treasury, Supporting people into home ownership; First Home Buyers, 5% Deposit Scheme for First Home Buyers (information guide); First Home Buyers, 5% Deposit Scheme FAQs; ATO, Eligibility for the FHSS scheme; First Home Buyers, Australian Government Help to Buy Scheme; First Home Buyers, Housing information campaign resources; First Home Buyers, Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme.