Grants and schemes in Victoria

Victoria has four kinds of help for a first home buyer, and one of them has just closed. The First Home Owner Grant is a payment on a new home. The duty exemption and concession, on the stamp duty page, reduce what is owed at settlement. The Victorian Homebuyer Fund closed in September 2025; the federal Help to Buy replaced it, and the federal 5% Deposit Scheme lets a buyer borrow with a smaller deposit. Each has an eligibility test; this page summarises them and cannot apply them.

First Home Owner Grant

The grant is a $10,000 payment to help an eligible first home buyer buy or build a new home in Victoria to live in. It applies to newly constructed or never-occupied properties valued up to $750,000; for an off-the-plan purchase that is the contract price. "New" means not previously sold, occupied, leased out or used for short-term accommodation; a substantially renovated home, or one replacing a demolished one, can count. The contract has to be signed on or after 1 July 2013.

The tests: at least one applicant lives in the home as their principal place of residence for at least 12 months. That period starts within 12 months of settlement or of construction finishing. At least one applicant is an Australian citizen, a New Zealand citizen or a permanent resident, and each is at least 18. Most people apply through an approved agent, usually the lender, otherwise to the SRO directly, within 12 months of settlement or of completing construction.

A Regional First Home Owner Grant sits under the SRO's list of closed grants; its amount and closing date were not confirmed from this environment.

State schemes

The Victorian Homebuyer Fund was the state's shared-equity scheme. From October 2021 the government contributed up to 25% of the price (35% for an eligible Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander buyer) for a proportional share of the home. That cut the minimum deposit to 5% (3.5%) and removed the need for LMI. It closed to new applications on 10 September 2025, after helping more than 16,100 Victorians buy. The research found no other state scheme open as at 6 September 2026.

Federal schemes in Victoria

The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme is the renamed Home Guarantee Scheme. From 1 October 2025 it has unlimited places, no income cap and higher property price caps, and the capital-city cap applies to regional centres with a population over 250,000. The current Victorian caps were not confirmed from this environment. Housing Australia's postcode search tool shows the cap for a location.

Help to Buy is the Commonwealth shared-equity scheme, open in Victoria since applications opened on 5 December 2025; it has replaced the Homebuyer Fund. Housing Australia contributes up to 40% of the purchase price for a new home or 30% for an existing home. The Victorian price caps and the income caps were not confirmed from this environment. The figures returned predate the launch; the Help to Buy page and its portal carry the current ones.

How they combine

Duty relief, the grant and a deposit scheme are three separate tests run by two governments, and passing one says nothing about another. A buyer can hold the grant and the duty exemption on the same new home. Both are conditional on eligibility, each is applied for separately, and both change the cash needed at settlement. A smaller deposit means a higher LVR, and an LVR above 80% usually brings LMI. The LMI calculator shows the premium at a given deposit, and the deposit timeline calculator shows how long a target takes to reach.

The tests that catch people out

• Prior ownership. The duty relief is lost if the buyer has previously owned a home in Australia that they lived in. How a spouse or partner not on the title is treated was not returned from this environment; confirm it before relying on either program.
• Moving in on time. Both need 12 months of residence starting within 12 months of settlement or completion. For vacant land the duty clock runs from the occupancy certificate (12 months) or settlement (36 months), whichever is first.
• Contract dates. The grant needs a contract signed on or after 1 July 2013; the temporary off-the-plan duty concession covers contracts from 21 October 2024 to 20 April 2027.
• Citizenship. At least one applicant has to be a citizen or permanent resident; for the grant, a New Zealand citizen also qualifies.
• A non-eligible co-buyer. The tests look at every applicant, and one who fails them can put the whole application outside.
• The new-home definition. A home that has been sold, lived in, leased or let short-term is not new for the grant.
• Market value. Both need a purchase at market value; a gift or a heavy discount disqualifies.