Understanding the Basics of First Time Buyer Resources

If you're trying to work out what help is available for first home buyers, you're probably swimming through a lot of government websites and comparing schemes that sound similar but work differently.

The most useful thing to know upfront is that most first home buyers in Australia can now purchase with a 5% deposit without paying lenders mortgage insurance, and depending on where you buy and what type of property you choose, you might also qualify for a cash grant and stamp duty savings that reduce your upfront costs by tens of thousands of dollars. Getting clear on which schemes apply to your situation before you start looking at properties will shape your budget and your shortlist.

How the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme Works

The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme lets eligible first home buyers purchase with a 5% deposit. Housing Australia guarantees the difference between your deposit and 20% of the property value, which means you avoid paying lenders mortgage insurance. There are no income caps and no annual limits on the number of approvals. You apply through a participating lender, not directly through Housing Australia.

Consider a buyer in Perth looking at a property priced at the current median. With a 5% deposit, you're contributing less upfront and avoiding an LMI bill that could otherwise run to several thousand dollars. The scheme applies to purchases up to $950,000 in Perth, which covers most of the metro market. The application happens as part of your home loan application, and your broker or lender will confirm your eligibility based on residency, citizenship, and whether you've owned property before.

First Home Owner Grants and Where They Apply

First home owner grants are cash payments from state and territory governments. They only apply to new homes, not established properties. The amount varies depending on where you're buying.

In Western Australia, the grant is $10,000 for new homes valued up to $750,000 south of the 26th parallel. In Queensland, the grant dropped from $30,000 to $15,000 for contracts signed from 1 July 2026, and it applies to new homes under $750,000. South Australia offers $15,000 with no price cap for eligible contracts from mid-2024. Tasmania increased its grant to $20,000 from 1 July 2026, though that change is subject to final assent. The Northern Territory offers a $50,000 HomeGrown Territory Grant for new homes on contracts signed by 30 September 2027.

If you're buying an established home, you won't qualify for these grants. That doesn't mean buying established is the wrong move. It just changes your upfront budget and where stamp duty concessions become more relevant.

Stamp Duty Concessions That Actually Save You Money

Stamp duty concessions reduce or remove transfer duty for first home buyers. The structure varies by state, and the savings can be significant.

In Western Australia, eligible buyers purchasing in the Perth metro or Peel regions get full duty exemption on homes up to $430,000, phasing out to $530,000. From March 2025, concessions apply up to $700,000 in those regions and up to $750,000 outside them. For vacant land, full exemption applies up to $300,000, phasing out to $400,000. There's also a 75% off-the-plan rebate for apartments under construction or newly completed, capped at $50,000.

In Victoria, there's full exemption on properties up to $600,000 and a sliding scale concession from $600,001 to $750,000. Queensland offers nil transfer duty on established homes up to $700,000, with concessions up to $800,000, and full transfer duty concessions on new builds with no price cap from May 2025. The Australian Capital Territory removed both the property value limit and the income threshold from 1 July 2026, meaning eligible buyers are now fully exempt from conveyance duty regardless of property value or household income.

The dollar value of these concessions can exceed $20,000 depending on the property price, which is often more than the first home owner grant itself.

What Pre-Approval Means and Why It Matters

Pre-approval is conditional approval from a lender before you make an offer. It confirms how much you can borrow based on your income, expenses, deposit, and credit history. It doesn't lock in a property, and it doesn't guarantee final approval, but it does give you a clear borrowing limit and shows sellers you're a serious buyer.

In our experience, buyers who go to auctions or make offers without pre-approval often find out too late that their budget was unrealistic or that their deposit structure doesn't meet lender requirements. Pre-approval takes one to three business days in most cases and is valid for three to six months depending on the lender. It also gives you time to sort out any issues with your credit file or savings history before you're under contract.

Deposit Sources and What Lenders Will Accept

Your deposit needs to come from genuine savings, a gift from a family member, or a combination of both. Genuine savings typically means funds held in your account for at least three months. Lenders want to see that you can save consistently, not that you borrowed the deposit from somewhere else.

A genuine savings deposit can include balances in a savings account, term deposit, or offset account. It can also include the first home super saver scheme, which lets you make voluntary super contributions and then withdraw up to $50,000 to use as a deposit. Equity in another asset or a guarantor arrangement can sometimes replace part of the cash deposit, but those structures depend on individual circumstances and lender policy.

Gifts are generally accepted as long as the person giving the gift signs a statutory declaration confirming it's not a loan and doesn't need to be repaid. Some lenders will still require a portion of the deposit to come from your own savings, particularly if you're borrowing at a higher loan-to-value ratio.

Help to Buy and How It Differs From the 5% Deposit Scheme

Help to Buy is a shared equity scheme where the Australian Government contributes up to 40% of the purchase price for a new home or up to 30% for an existing home in exchange for a proportional equity stake. You need a minimum 2% deposit. Income limits apply: $100,000 for individuals and $160,000 for joint applicants or single parents. Property price caps vary by location.

The scheme is available in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, and from early 2026, Western Australia. Tasmania has opted out. You cannot combine Help to Buy with the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, but you can usually still access state-based grants and stamp duty concessions.

Help to Buy suits buyers who meet the income limits and want to enter the market with a very low deposit. The trade-off is that the government holds equity in your property and receives a share of any capital gain when you sell or buy them out.

What Happens After You Apply

Once you submit your home loan application, the lender will assess your income, expenses, credit history, and deposit. They'll request payslips, bank statements, tax returns if you're self-employed, and identification. If you're using a government scheme, the lender will also verify your eligibility and submit the guarantee or equity application on your behalf.

Formal approval usually takes three to seven business days, though it can be faster or slower depending on the lender's workload and whether any documents are missing. Once approved, you'll receive a loan offer with the interest rate, fees, loan term, and repayment amount. You'll have a cooling-off period to review the offer, and if you're happy, you sign and move toward settlement.

Settlement is when ownership transfers and the lender releases funds to the seller. Your solicitor or conveyancer handles most of the paperwork. After settlement, your first repayment is usually due within a month.

If you're not sure which scheme applies to your situation or how much you can borrow, call one of our team or book an appointment at a time that works for you. We'll walk you through the options and help you put together an application that reflects what you're actually eligible for.

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