Grants and schemes in the Northern Territory

The Northern Territory runs three grants of its own. HomeGrown Territory is for first home buyers of a new home, FreshStart for buyers who have owned before; a third, for established homes, closed on 30 September 2025. The federal 5% Deposit Scheme and Help to Buy sit alongside. Every one has an eligibility test; this page summarises the tests but cannot apply them to a particular buyer.

First Home Owner Grant

The Territory's grant is the HomeGrown Territory Grant rather than a First Home Owner Grant. It offers $50,000 to eligible first home buyers towards building or buying a new home, including an approved transportable home.

The page states three conditions. The contract to buy or build is signed between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2027. The home has never been lived in or sold as a place of residence. The buyer lives in it for at least 12 months after taking possession, or once construction is complete. There is no price cap. Application is through the lender or the Territory Revenue Office within 12 months of settlement, and the grant cannot be combined with FreshStart.

The citizenship, age and prior-ownership tests were not retrieved; they sit in the Territory Revenue Office's guide to the grants, not opened for this page.

State schemes

FreshStart New Home Grant, open. It offers $30,000 to eligible applicants to purchase or build a new home, whether or not they have owned before. Building, buying off the plan and owner-builder starts all count, with no price cap. The contract or start has to happen by 30 September 2027, and applications close on 31 December 2027. Whether that deadline also applies to the HomeGrown grant was not confirmed.

HomeGrown Territory Grant for established homes, closed. It paid $10,000 to eligible first home buyers who signed a contract for an existing home between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025. Buyers who contracted inside the window can still apply within 12 months of settlement, with 12 months' residence. Nothing is available for an established-home contract signed now.

The house and land package duty exemption, for contracts to 30 June 2027, is covered on the stamp duty page.

Federal schemes in the Northern Territory

The 5% Deposit Scheme. On 1 October 2025 the Home Guarantee Scheme was renamed the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, with higher price caps from that date. In general terms it has unlimited places and no income cap. It lets an eligible buyer borrow with a five per cent deposit without LMI, because the government guarantees part of the loan. The Territory's current cap was not confirmed; an older fact sheet's figure predates the expansion and is not repeated here. Housing Australia's price caps page has a postcode search tool, and the lender confirms the cap.

Help to Buy. The government contributes up to 30 per cent of the price of an existing home, or 40 per cent of a new one. Applications opened on 5 December 2025. Housing Australia says the scheme operates in the states that have passed enabling legislation and in the ACT and the Northern Territory, so no Territory legislation was needed. The Territory's price caps were not confirmed; Housing Australia's Help to Buy page is the source.

How they combine

Duty relief, the grants and a deposit scheme are separate tests: the Territory Revenue Office runs the grants and the exemption, a participating lender the 5% Deposit Scheme. The two Territory grants exclude each other, and passing one test says nothing about another.

In general terms, a grant adds to the deposit or reduces the loan. That lowers the LVR and can take a buyer under the point at which LMI is charged; the 5% Deposit Scheme removes LMI by guarantee instead. The LMI calculator shows what a lower LVR does to the premium; the deposit timeline calculator shows how a grant changes the time to a target deposit.

The tests that catch people out

Contract dates. HomeGrown needs a contract signed between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2027; FreshStart needs a contract or owner-builder start by 30 September 2027 and an application by 31 December 2027. A day outside the window fails.

The new-home definition. The home must never have been lived in or sold as a place of residence; a brief tenancy makes it not new.

Moving in and staying. Twelve months' residence for either HomeGrown grant; a move-in within twelve months and a six-month stay for the house and land exemption. The pages do not say what happens if a condition is not met; ask before letting the property or moving out early.

Prior ownership, citizenship, age and co-buyers. None was retrieved for this page; they are the tests most likely to catch a buyer whose spouse or co-buyer has owned before.