Buying your first home

If you’re a first home buyer and you’re buying or building a new home, you may qualify for a $10,000 grant under the NSW First Home Owner Grant (New Homes) scheme if you purchase date was on or after 1 January 2016.

You can make a claim for the First Home Owner Grant if your:

• newly constructed home or a substantially renovated home has a total value less than $600,000
• land for building and any dwelling you intend to build has a combined value less than $750,000.

To receive the grant when you buy your home:

• you must be an individual, not a company or trust
• you must be over 18
• you, or at least one person you’re buying with, must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident
• your purchase date must be on or after 1 January 2016.

Generally, you won’t be eligible for the First Home Owner Grant if you or your spouse:

• have previously owned or co-owned a home in Australia or
• have received an Australian first home owner grant.

You may still be eligible if you purchased a residential property after 1 July 2000 and didn’t live in it for more than six continuous months.

You or one of the other first home buyers who purchase with must move into the new home within 12 months after buying the property, and live there for at least six continuous months.

If you’re buying land and building a new home, you must move in within 12 months after construction is complete.

If you’re a member of the Australian Defence Force you may be exempt from the six-month residence requirement, provided all buyers are on the New South Wales electoral roll.

What’s considered a ‘new home’?

If you’re buying an existing home, you can apply for the grant if:

• this is the first time the house has been sold and
• the house has never been lived in before you move in, including by the builder or a tenant.

Recently renovated homes

Your home is also considered new if it has been substantially renovated before you buy it. You might be eligible for the grant if:

• most or all of the house was removed or replaced
• this is the first time the home has been sold after those renovations
• it hasn’t been lived in since being renovated, including by the builder or a tenant.