The First Home Owner Grant in NSW: $10,000 for a new home

What the grant is

The grant is a one-off payment of $10,000 from the NSW Government.

It is for a first home that is newly built, bought off the plan, or substantially renovated.

It is not a stamp duty discount. Stamp duty relief is a separate scheme with its own rules.

One grant is paid for each purchase, not for each person. A couple buying together receive one grant of $10,000.

The value limits

1. Buying a new home, including off the plan: the price must not exceed $600,000.
2. Buying land and signing a building contract: the land and the building together must not exceed $750,000.
3. Building the home yourself as an owner builder: the same $750,000 limit applies to the total.
4. A substantially renovated home: $600,000.

If the value is even $1 over the limit, no grant is paid.

What counts as a new home

A new home is one that has not been lived in or sold as a home before.

A substantially renovated home can qualify only where most of it was removed or replaced, and no one lived in it before or after the work. It must also be the first sale since the work was finished.

An existing home does not qualify, even if it is your first home.

Who qualifies

1. Each applicant is at least 18 and buys as a person, not as a company or a trust.
2. At least one applicant is an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
3. Neither you nor your spouse or partner has received a first home owner grant anywhere in Australia before.
4. Neither of you has owned a home before 1 July 2000.
5. Neither of you has lived for 6 continuous months or more in a home you owned on or after 1 July 2000.

These ownership rules are not the same as the stamp duty rules. You can qualify for one and not the other. We check both.

The rule about living in the home

You must move in within 12 months of settlement, or of the home being finished if you are building.

For contracts from 1 July 2023, you must live there as your main home for at least 12 continuous months.

If you do not, you may have to pay the grant back.

How and when to apply

If you need the grant at settlement, or for the first payment to your builder, you apply through your lender. Most lenders process the grant for you.

If the purchase or the build is already finished, you apply to Revenue NSW online.

You must apply within 12 months of settlement, or of the home being finished.

Can I get the grant and the stamp duty relief?

Revenue NSW says the grant may be paid in addition to other exemptions or concessions for eligible buyers.

If you buy a new home up to $600,000 and you meet the rules of both schemes, you may receive the $10,000 grant and pay no stamp duty.

Read first home buyer stamp duty in NSW for the duty figures.

Does the grant count towards my deposit?

That is a question for your lender. Some lenders count the grant towards the funds you need. Others do not.

Ask your lender before you sign a contract.

A deposit for the contract itself is usually paid on exchange, before the grant is paid. Plan for that.

Where buyers get caught

Common questions