Am I Eligible for the First Home Owner Grant in Victoria?

The Victorian First Home Owner Grant is $10,000 on a new home worth up to $750,000 — but eligibility turns on six conditions, and the one that rules out most applicants isn't the price. Work through each condition in plain English, check your own position, and see how the grant interacts with the first home buyer stamp duty exemption.

Disclaimer: This article provides general information based on Australian law and is not legal advice. Laws and policies change — contact Ebra Partners for advice specific to your situation.

What the First Home Owner Grant Actually Is

The First Home Owner Grant (FHOG) is a one-off $10,000 payment from the Victorian Government to help eligible first home buyers into a new home. It is paid once per person, it is not means-tested against your income, and it is not a loan — you do not pay it back, provided you meet the conditions attached to it.

The word doing the most work in that paragraph is new. The grant is not a general first home buyer subsidy. It exists to encourage new housing supply, and that single fact explains most of the disappointment people run into: an established home does not qualify for the grant no matter how modest its price, how long ago it was built, or whether it is genuinely your first home.

How Much Is the Grant, and Does It Change by Region?

The grant is $10,000 statewide. There is no longer a metropolitan versus regional split.

This is worth stating plainly because the $20,000 Regional First Home Owner Grant is still widely referenced in older guides, forum posts and even some agents' marketing. That grant was real, but it applied only to contracts entered into between 1 July 2017 and 30 June 2021, and it closed on 30 June 2021. If you are buying in Ballarat, Bendigo or Geelong today, the grant available to you is the same $10,000 available in Melbourne.

The Six Conditions, in Plain English

Eligibility is not a sliding scale. It is a series of gates — you either pass each one or you do not get the grant. Here they are in the order they most often catch people out.

1. The home must be new

The property must never have been sold, occupied as a home, leased out, or used for short-term accommodation before you buy it. That covers a house-and-land package, an off-the-plan apartment, or a home you build yourself.

Two cases that do count as new and are frequently missed: a substantially renovated home, and a new home built to replace a demolished one. Both can qualify. If either might describe your purchase, it is worth checking rather than assuming you are out.

2. The home must be worth $750,000 or less

For an off-the-plan purchase, that figure is measured on the contract price. Unlike the stamp duty concession, the grant has no taper: there is no partial grant just above the cap. A contract at $750,001 attracts nothing.

3. Neither you nor your partner has received the grant before

The grant is once only, and it counts nationally — a grant received in Queensland a decade ago rules you out in Victoria today. It also counts across a couple: if your spouse or partner has received it, you cannot receive it again as a household.

4. Prior property ownership

This is the condition most often self-assessed incorrectly, because the test is not simply “have you ever owned property.” You are ruled out if you or your partner owned residential property in Australia before 1 July 2000, or if you lived for a continuous period of six months or more in a home you owned on or after that date.

Read that carefully, because the gap in it matters: an investment property bought after 1 July 2000 that you never lived in does not automatically disqualify you. People rule themselves out of $10,000 on this point when they did not need to. If your ownership history is anything other than simple, ask before you assume.

5. You must actually live there

At least one buyer must occupy the home as their principal place of residence for at least 12 months, starting within 12 months of settlement or of construction finishing.

This is a real condition with a real consequence — the grant is repayable if it is not met. A purchase intended purely as an investment does not qualify. Australian Defence Force personnel may be exempt from the residence requirement.

6. Citizenship or residency

At least one applicant must be an Australian citizen, a permanent resident, or a New Zealand citizen. Only one applicant needs to satisfy this, so a couple where one partner is on a temporary visa can still qualify. New Zealand citizens have been eligible regardless of visa status since 26 November 2025.

All applicants must also be natural persons — not a company or a trust — and at least 18 years old at settlement or completion of construction.

The Grant and Stamp Duty Are Two Different Things

These two are constantly conflated, and the confusion costs people money in both directions. They are separate concessions with separate rules, administered under separate schemes.

• The First Home Owner Grant is money paid to you. It applies only to new homes, up to $750,000.
• The first home buyer duty exemption or concession is money you do not have to pay. It applies to any home you buy as your principal place of residence — new or established — with a full exemption under $600,000 and a partial concession up to $750,000.

The practical consequence: if you are buying an established home, you get no grant, but you may still save a substantial sum in duty. And if you are buying a new home under $750,000, you may well receive both — the $10,000 grant and a duty exemption or concession on the same purchase.

Because the duty saving usually dwarfs the grant, it is worth working out your duty position before you get attached to a property. Use our Victorian Stamp Duty Calculator to see what duty you would pay, with and without the first home buyer concession.

How to Apply

There are two routes, and which one you use affects when you see the money.

• Through your lender. Most banks and brokers are approved agents for the grant and will lodge it alongside your finance. This is the common path, and it is usually the fastest — for a purchase, the grant can be applied at settlement.
• Directly with the State Revenue Office. You lodge through the SRO's online portal yourself. You will need this route if your lender is not an approved agent, or if you are an owner-builder.

Either way you will need evidence of identity for every applicant, the contract of sale or building contract, and proof of the property's status as a new home. If you are building, the grant is generally paid at the first progress payment rather than at land settlement, which catches out buyers who budget for it too early.

Applications can be lodged up to 12 months after settlement or completion of construction, so a missed application is often recoverable — but do not rely on that if your lender has told you it was handled.

Where This Goes Wrong Most Often

In practice, the same handful of problems account for most refused or clawed-back grants:

• Assuming a renovated home is established. Substantial renovation can qualify. It is a technical test, and it is worth getting a view on before you write it off.
• Assuming any prior ownership disqualifies. As above — the date and whether you lived there both matter.
• Not meeting the residence condition. Plans change, tenants get offered, and the grant becomes repayable. If your circumstances shift inside the 12-month window, get advice rather than hoping.
• A contract just over the cap. There is no partial grant. Where a price is close to $750,000, what is and is not included in the dutiable value can matter.

Before You Sign

The grant is assessed on your documents, not on your intentions, and the conditions bite after settlement as well as before it. The cheapest time to find out that a purchase does not qualify is before you are contractually committed to it.

Our conveyancing team reviews the contract, the property's status and your ownership history together, so you know what you are actually entitled to — grant, duty concession, or both — before you sign rather than after.

Need personalised advice? Contact Ebra Partners on 1800 845 143 or visit us at 1059 Mt Alexander Road, Essendon VIC 3040 for a free initial consultation.