Grants and schemes in Tasmania

Four programs touch a Tasmanian purchase. The First Home Owner Grant is a state payment administered by the State Revenue Office Tasmania (SRO). HomeShare is the state's shared-equity program, and the 5% Deposit Scheme and Help to Buy are federal, run by Housing Australia. The first-home duty exemption on established homes ended for settlements after 30 June 2026; see the stamp duty page. Each has an eligibility test this page summarises but cannot apply.

First Home Owner Grant

The grant is paid under the First Home Owner Grant Act 2000 and administered by SRO. SRO's first-home page covers building a new residence and purchasing an established home. The grant is the new-residence side; the established-home side was the duty exemption that has ended.

The amount is not given here. The search result for SRO's page carried three different figures tied to a change during 2026, and they could not be reconciled without opening the page. Any value cap on the new home was not seen either. Both are open items on the Tasmania hub.

The residence rule is confirmed. For a new home, applicants must move in within 12 months of purchase or completion and keep it as their principal place of residence for six continuous months. SRO publishes the application form and a guideline, and takes enquiries on (03) 6166 4400; the deadline for applying was not seen.

State schemes

Under HomeShare the Director of Housing contributes up to 30 per cent of the cost of a home, and the eligible buyer owns at least 70 per cent. It covers a brand new home or house-and-land package, or an existing Housing Tasmania dwelling. The Director's share must be paid out before 30 years. The buyer still needs a deposit and enough income for the repayments; the loans are funded through Bendigo and Adelaide Bank. Public housing tenants are eligible without the income and asset limits that apply to other applicants.

Those pages sit partly on legacy agency domains, and the same search surfaced a separate MyHome shared equity program page. Which scheme is open to new applicants in September 2026, the current contribution, the income limits and any price cap were not confirmed; Homes Tasmania's site settles it.

Closed: the duty exemption above, and the First Home Builders Boost, which appears only in a historic SRO statistics fact sheet.

Federal schemes in Tasmania

Under the 5% Deposit Scheme an eligible buyer purchases with a five per cent deposit. A Commonwealth guarantee stands in for the LMI a lender would otherwise charge. Since 1 October 2025 it has had unlimited places, no income cap and higher price caps. The Hobart and rest-of-Tasmania caps were not confirmed from this environment. Housing Australia's postcode tool gives the cap for a location; the participating lender confirms it.

Help to Buy is the federal shared-equity scheme. The Commonwealth takes up to 30 per cent of the price of an existing home, or 40 per cent of a new one, as equity. Applications opened on 5 December 2025; it operates where the state has passed enabling legislation, and Housing Australia has announced that it is available in Tasmania. The Tasmanian price caps and income tests were not confirmed.

How they combine

Three separate tests. Duty relief, when Tasmania has any, is SRO's test on the transfer. The grant is SRO's test on the buyer and the new home. A deposit scheme is Housing Australia's test. Passing one says nothing about the others; a federal guarantee with no state help is the Tasmanian position on an established home today.

The practical effect is on the deposit: a grant adds cash, a guarantee lets a smaller deposit through without LMI, and shared equity lowers the loan. Where a smaller deposit means a higher LVR, the LMI calculator shows the premium it avoids. The deposit timeline calculator shows how long the deposit takes to save.

The tests that catch people out

• Prior ownership, including a co-buyer's. The duty exemption's tests applied to every applicant: no past home in Australia, no earlier grant or concession anywhere. One co-buyer with a past property fails the whole application.
• Moving in on time. Six months' continuous residence in the new home, starting within 12 months, is the grant's condition.
• Contract and settlement dates. The duty exemption turned on the settlement date, not the contract date; contracts that settled after 30 June 2026 missed it.
• Citizenship. At least one applicant had to be an Australian citizen or permanent resident for the exemption; the grant's equivalent rule is in the SRO guideline.
• What counts as new. HomeShare names brand new homes and house-and-land packages; the grant is for building a new residence. Whether a substantially renovated home counts was not seen.

The Property Decision Report does not apply these tests; it prices one property, with duty inside the purchase-cost figure, so the deposit sums start from a real number.