Three separate benefits, three separate sets of rules. Here is what each one is worth, what it requires, and which purchase qualifies for all three.
A Queensland first home buyer purchasing a new home in 2026 can combine three separate benefits: the $30,000 First Home Owner Grant for new homes valued under $750,000, a full transfer duty concession that reduces stamp duty to nil on contracts dated 1 May 2025 or later, and the federal 5% Deposit Scheme, which lets eligible buyers purchase with a 5% deposit.
Each benefit is administered by a different body and assessed on its own criteria, which is why buyers routinely qualify for one and assume they have missed the others. The sections below take them one at a time, then set out the purchase that satisfies all three.
| Benefit | What it is worth | Key condition | Administered by |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Home Owner Grant | $30,000 | New home valued under $750,000; contract signed on or after 20 November 2023 | Queensland Revenue Office |
| First home (new home) transfer duty concession | Duty reduced to nil | New or substantially renovated home; contract dated 1 May 2025 or later; no value cap | Queensland Revenue Office |
| Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme | 5% deposit | Purchase price and lender-assessed value at or below the postcode cap | Housing Australia, via participating lenders |
Figures verified against the Queensland Revenue Office and firsthomebuyers.gov.au on 21 August 2026. Government criteria change; check the official pages linked at the end of this guide before you rely on any figure here.
The Queensland First Home Owner Grant is $30,000 for contracts signed on or after 20 November 2023. For contracts signed before that date the amount is $15,000.
Two conditions do most of the disqualifying. The home must be new, which Queensland Revenue Office defines as a home that has not been previously occupied or sold as a place of residence. And the value of that new home must be less than $750,000. An established house, however modest, does not attract the grant at any price.
Not on a new home. The first home (new home) transfer duty concession is a full concession, which Queensland Revenue Office describes plainly: it "reduces the duty to nil". It applies to contracts dated 1 May 2025 or later, where the contract date means the day you sign, not the day you settle.
Unlike the grant, this concession has no value cap on the home and the residential land attributed to it. Duty is still imposed on any additional land that does not form part of the residence.
The conditions worth knowing before you count on it: you must be at least 18, you must never have held an interest in another residence anywhere in Australia or overseas, you must move in within one year of settlement, you must pay market value, and you need a vendor statement evidencing that the home is new or substantially renovated.
Same programme, new name. What buyers still call the First Home Guarantee or the Home Guarantee Scheme is now the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, run by Housing Australia at firsthomebuyers.gov.au. Eligible first home buyers purchase with a minimum 5% deposit, and eligible single parents with 2%. Housing Australia guarantees part of the loan, so buyers can avoid paying lenders mortgage insurance.
The change most people have not caught up with: from 1 October 2025 the expanded scheme has no income caps and no limit on places. The income test that ruled out a lot of dual-income households, and the annual place cap that meant applying early in the financial year, are both gone.
What still binds is the property price cap, and it is set by postcode.
| State | Capital city and regional centres | Rest of state |
|---|---|---|
| Queensland | $1,000,000 (Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast) | $700,000 |
| Victoria | $950,000 (Melbourne, Geelong) | $650,000 |
| Western Australia | $850,000 (Perth) | $600,000 |
Both the purchase price and the home's value as assessed by your participating lender must sit at or below the cap. Caps run by postcode, so a suburb split across two postcodes can carry two different caps. Housing Australia publishes a postcode search tool for checking a specific address.
Yes. The grant and the duty concession are Queensland Revenue Office programmes; the deposit scheme is federal and reaches you through a participating lender. Each is assessed separately against its own criteria, so qualifying for one neither guarantees nor forfeits the others.
The practical constraint is the grant. It requires a new home under $750,000, which is the tightest of the three thresholds. A new build under that figure is the purchase that satisfies all three at once.
Illustrative only. Your borrowing capacity, the lender's valuation, your eligibility for each programme and the other costs of buying all determine what is actually possible. Working that out honestly is what the free 5-minute call is for.
Five minutes, no documents, no credit check. You get a straight answer either way, and if the timing is not right yet, the specific list of what would change it.
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The grant is $30,000 for contracts signed on or after 20 November 2023. The home must be new, meaning it has not been previously occupied or sold as a place of residence, and its value must be less than $750,000. Contracts signed before 20 November 2023 attract $15,000.
First home buyers of a new or substantially renovated home can claim the first home (new home) transfer duty concession, which reduces the duty to nil. It applies to contracts dated 1 May 2025 or later and there is no value cap on the home and the residential land attributed to it. Duty still applies to additional land that is not part of the residence.
It is the same programme, renamed. The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, formerly known as the Home Guarantee Scheme and the First Home Guarantee, lets eligible first home buyers purchase with a minimum 5% deposit, or 2% for eligible single parents. Housing Australia guarantees part of the loan so buyers can avoid paying lenders mortgage insurance.
No. Income caps and place limits were removed for the expanded scheme from 1 October 2025, so there is no income test and places are not rationed.
The cap is $1,000,000 for Brisbane and the regional centres of the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast, and $700,000 for the rest of Queensland. Both the purchase price and the lender-assessed value of the home must be at or below the cap, and caps are set by postcode, so a suburb split across postcodes can have more than one cap.
Yes. They are administered separately, by Queensland Revenue Office for the grant and duty concession and by Housing Australia through participating lenders for the deposit scheme, and each is assessed on its own criteria. The practical constraint is that the grant applies only to new homes valued under $750,000, so a new build under that figure is the purchase that qualifies for all three.
Under the 5% Deposit Scheme a 5% deposit on a $700,000 home is $35,000. That purchase sits under the $1,000,000 Brisbane and Gold Coast price cap, and under the $750,000 grant threshold, so the $30,000 First Home Owner Grant and the nil stamp duty concession can also apply. Your borrowing capacity, lender criteria and other costs still determine what is possible for you.
Every figure in this guide comes from the administering body. If you check one thing before acting, check these.
This guide is general information, not financial, credit, legal or taxation advice, and it does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. Eligibility for grants, schemes and finance varies by state, lender and individual circumstances and is subject to current government criteria.