First Home Owner Grant (FHOG)

The First Home Owner Grant is a lump sum of cash available to first home owners to help with the cost of buying a first home or vacant land to build a home on. The Grant doesn’t have to be repaid, and it’s not taxable, but there are strings attached.

We all like free money, and that’s exactly what the First Home Owner Grant (FHOG) is – a lump sum of cash to help with the purchase of your first home.
The First Home Owner Grant is funded by state governments, so different amounts are available in each of state and territory. Exactly how much you will receive depends on where you are buying. 

Many Australians are wondering if they can get the First Home Owners Grant. There are different rules depending on the State that you are in, but the basic First Home Owner Grant conditions are:

• You must be a permanent resident or an Australian citizen. If you’re co-buying with someone
  else, at least one of you must be a permanent resident or Australian citizen
• You must not previously have owned or co-owned a home in Australia or have received an
  Australian First Home Owner Grant in the past.
• You must be buying a home to live in – not as an investment property
• You need to live in the home for at least six months after purchase,
• You must be a natural person (not a company or a trust), and
• You need to be aged over 18.

Other conditions may apply depending on your state/territory. In many states, the First Home Owner Grant is only available if you buy or build a new home. In some states, you may not be eligible for the FHOG if you pay over a certain value for your first home.

As each state has its own set of rules for the First Home Owner Grant, it is important to understand the guidelines that apply for your area.

Yes! The whole purpose of the First Home Owner Grant is to help you manage the costs of owning a home, though it may not be enough to form your whole deposit.

Your application for the First Home Owner Grant usually only takes a week or two to be processed, however exactly when you receive the Grant depends on whether you are buying or building.

If you’re buying a home that’s already built, you’ll usually receive the funds when the property settles – that’s the stage when all the paperwork is completed and the keys to your home are handed over to you.

If you’re building a new home, the First Home Owner Grant is usually paid when you first drawdown your loan – and that’s typically when the slab is laid.

Applying for the First Home Owner Grant is easy, and your Mortgage Choice broker can guide you through the paperwork. Here’s a form you can fill out to start the application process.

Basically, there are two ways to apply for the First Home Owner Grant. You can apply through your lender at the same time you apply for your home loan – this is where your Mortgage Choice broker can help. Or you can apply directly to the state government body (usually the Revenue Office) that handles the First Home Owner Grant in your area.

That depends. Some states offer generous savings on stamp duty for first home owners, others do not offer concessions on stamp duty at all. In a number of states, saving on stamp duty are only available if you buy or build a new home.

This makes it important to know whether stamp savings are available to first home buyers in your part of Australia – stamp duty can be expensive, and you may need to add the cost to your home buying budget.

Use our stamp duty calculator today to understand how much you could save as a first home buyer in your state! 

Stamp duty is one of the upfront costs that apply when you buy a home or vacant land. It is a type of state government tax, so the rates of duty differ between states. The common thread is that stamp duty is calculated as a percentage of the price paid for your home.

Put simply, the amount of stamp duty you will pay depends on where you are buying, and how much you pay for your home or vacant land.