QLD first home buyers
QLD First Home Owner Grant
The Queensland First Home Owner Grant is a state government payment to help first home buyers purchase or build a new home in Queensland. It applies to eligible new properties, never established ones, and has value and occupancy conditions attached.
Your Mortgage Broker Regents Park walks Regents Park first home buyers through this grant every week, and the rules trip up more applications than any lending condition does. This page covers what the grant pays, who qualifies, which properties count, how it combines with duty relief, and where buyers in Logan get caught out.
The Payment Doubled, And Old Pages Still Quote The Old Figure
The grant paid $15,000 for years, and that number still dominates search results and older articles. For contracts signed on or after 20 November 2023, the payment rose to $30,000, and it stayed at that level through the changes announced in the 2026 State Budget.
That doubling matters most for buyers at the lower end of the deposit scale, because $30,000 can be the difference between reaching a five per cent deposit with genuine savings and waiting another year of rent. Owner-builders can claim the same $30,000 where foundations are laid on or after that date. The catch, which the next section covers, is that eligibility rules are strict and the Queensland Revenue Office applies them literally.
Who Qualifies
Eligibility is tested on the applicant, not just the property, and one failed test refuses the whole application. The Queensland Revenue Office lists the following requirements:
Age and legal capacity
Citizenship or residency
No prior ownership
Occupancy commitment
New property only
Value under the cap
The prior ownership test catches second applicants most often. A couple can both be first home buyers in spirit while one partner once held a quarter share of an inherited unit, and that single fact refuses the application. Check the record before the contract, not after.
Which Properties It Covers
The property type test is where most Queensland applications succeed or fail, so the Queensland Revenue Office definitions are worth reading precisely:
| Property type | Grant eligible? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Newly built house, unit, duplex or townhouse | Yes | Must never have been occupied or sold as a residence |
| Substantially renovated home | Yes, in limited cases | Renovation must be completed by the seller; cosmetic work like a new kitchen or re-carpeting does not count |
| Off-the-plan purchase | Yes | The contract determines the grant amount and the value test |
| Contract to build | Yes | The building contract plus the unencumbered land value at contract date must be under $750,000 |
| Owner-builder construction | Yes | Paid where foundations are laid on or after 20 November 2023 |
| Established home, any price | No | The Revenue Office states plainly that there are no home owner grants for established homes |
The substantially renovated test is stricter than it reads. Most of the building must have been removed or replaced, so a beautifully modernised Queenslander does not qualify. If the renovation history is unclear, ask the seller for documentation before you rely on the grant in your budget.
Why The Rule Bites Here Around Regents Park
A Suburb That Builds Very Little
Regents Park is almost entirely established stock: 98.9 per cent of dwellings are separate houses, and only 92 dwellings were approved across the suburb in the last five years. Grant-eligible new homes barely exist inside the suburb itself, so buyers need to widen the search map early.
Where Eligible Stock Actually Sits
The eligible new homes near Regents Park cluster in the growth pockets across Logan, in house and land estates and off-the-plan releases in neighbouring suburbs. Buyers should expect to look in Park Ridge, Boronia Heights and around Browns Plains rather than inside 4118 itself.
The Gap Between Eligible And Desirable
Much of the newest local stock is larger four bedroom family housing, with 55.9 per cent of existing Regents Park homes already offering four or more bedrooms. A brand new home in this shape can push toward the $750,000 cap, so the value test needs checking before the deposit goes down.
What This Means For Your Search
A median household mortgage repayment of about $1,625 a month shows what local budgets carry, but the grant changes the starting point, not the ceiling. Practical buyers separate the search into two lists: established homes that suit the budget, and eligible new homes that capture the $30,000.
How It Stacks With Duty Relief
The grant is only half the government assistance available, and the two schemes have different rules. The first home transfer duty concession works like this:
No duty at all under the threshold
A reduced band above that
A hard ceiling at $800,000
Established homes can qualify
Occupancy rules apply here too
Renting a room is possible
A citizenship change from 1 August 2026
A new home under $750,000 can collect both schemes on the same purchase: the $30,000 grant and the duty concession together. That combination is why a new build sometimes beats an established home on total cash required, even when the sticker prices look similar.
How it works
How To Apply And When The Money Arrives
- 1
Lodge Through An Approved Agent
Applying through a bank or lender that is an approved agent is the fastest route, and when buying, the grant is generally paid at settlement. Ask whether your lender is on the agent list before you lodge directly, because it saves a full waiting cycle.
- 2
Direct Applications Wait For Completion
If you apply straight to the Queensland Revenue Office, the grant is not paid until the home is complete and every supporting document has been supplied. For buyers funding a build, that means the money arrives late in the project, so your cash flow must not depend on it early.
- 3
Building Contracts And Owner-Builders
For a contract to build or an owner-builder project, payment comes after completion, once the final inspection certificate or certificate of occupancy is provided. The full contract price plus the land value must sit under the cap at the contract date, which is why early pricing matters.
- 4
Watch The Deadline
Applications must be lodged within one year of taking possession and title registration when buying, or within one year of completion when building. Missing that window forfeits the grant altogether, so diarise the date alongside your settlement tasks rather than leaving it to memory.
Worth knowing early
What Gets An Application Knocked Back
The Revenue Office publishes the failure patterns, and they repeat every year. Avoid these:
- Buying established Assuming a well-priced established home qualifies because it is your first. It never does, at any price point.
- Landing exactly on the cap A contract at or over $750,000 is refused outright. The grant is not reduced, it disappears.
- Splitting a house and land package Structuring it as separate land and building contracts makes it a contract-to-build transaction, so the value test then includes the land at contract date.
- Land inflation Buying a block years earlier and watching its value rise can push the combined build value over the cap before the builder even signs.
- An incomplete building contract A non-comprehensive building contract with benchtops or electrical work excluded fails the contract-to-build test entirely.
- Occupancy failures Moving in later than one year after completion, or leaving before six continuous months of residence.
- Hidden prior ownership The applicant or spouse having owned residential property anywhere in Australia under the prior ownership rule.
- Wrong applicant structure Applying through a company or a trust, which the scheme does not permit.
Every one of these is avoidable at the contract stage rather than the claim stage. A one hour check of the contract structure, the applicant list and the property's renovation history protects a $30,000 payment.
Where we work
Areas We Service
Your Mortgage Broker Regents Park helps first home buyers across Logan City understand and claim the grant, then structure the lending around it. We service Browns Plains, Heritage Park, Park Ridge, Boronia Heights and Hillcrest, as well as Regents Park itself, with full details on our about page.
Questions answered
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the QLD First Home Owner Grant worth?
For eligible new home contracts signed on or after 20 November 2023, the grant is $30,000. Contracts signed before that date attracted $15,000, a figure still floating around older web pages.
Can I get the grant on an established home?
No. The Queensland Revenue Office is explicit that there are no home owner grants for established homes, at any price. Only new or substantially renovated homes qualify.
What is the property price cap for the grant?
The home and land together, including any contract variations, must be valued at less than $750,000. A purchase at $750,000 or more is refused outright, not reduced.
Do I have to live in the property to keep the grant?
Yes. You must move in within one year of completion and live there continuously for six months. The Commissioner grants extensions only in exceptional circumstances.
Is the grant different from stamp duty relief?
Yes, they are separate schemes. The grant applies to new homes only, while the first home duty concession can apply to established homes valued under $800,000.
How long does the grant take to arrive?
Applying through an approved agent such as your lender is the fastest route, with payment generally at settlement when buying. Applying directly to the Queensland Revenue Office means waiting until the home is complete.
Mortgage broker for Regents Park and the suburbs around it
Get In Touch
If you are weighing a new build against an established purchase and want the grant and duty position mapped before you sign, talk to a broker who works these files every week. Call (07) 3523 7116 for a conversation with no cost and no obligation, or read how our first home buyer process runs from first chat to settlement. As a broker writing across a panel of lenders, we compare structures rather than push one bank's product.