First home buyers in Victoria
Victoria gives first home buyers two things. The First Home Owner Grant is $10,000 for a new home valued up to $750,000. The first home buyer duty exemption means no stamp duty on a home up to $600,000, and reduced duty up to $750,000, on new homes, established homes and land to build on. To get the duty relief, every buyer on the contract must be enrolled to vote in Victorian elections, a rule no other state has.
What Victorian first home buyers can claim
The First Home Owner Grant. $10,000 for a new home valued up to $750,000. For an off-the-plan purchase, the contract price is the value tested.
The first home buyer duty exemption or concession. No stamp duty up to $600,000. Reduced duty from $600,001 to $750,000. New homes, established homes and vacant land to build on.
The 5% Deposit Scheme. Federal, not state: buy with a 5% deposit and no lenders mortgage insurance, up to $950,000 in Melbourne and Geelong and $650,000 in the rest of Victoria.
Do you have to buy new?
For the grant, yes. The $10,000 is for new homes only. Buy an established home and there's no grant, whatever the price.
For the duty relief, no. The exemption and concession apply to established homes and vacant land as well as new homes. For most Victorian first home buyers, that's where the real money is.
What stamp duty costs a Victorian first home buyer
Victoria calls it land transfer duty, usually just stamp duty. A first home buyer's duty depends on the home's dutiable value, usually the price.
| Dutiable value | First home buyer duty |
|---|---|
| Up to $600,000 | None |
| $600,001 to $750,000 | Reduced, rising with the price |
| Over $750,000 | Normal duty, no first home relief |
The State Revenue Office's own calculator works out the reduced amount on your price. We'll run it with you, alongside the grant and your deposit.
Where the duty relief runs out
Up to $600,000 a first home buyer pays nothing. Between $600,001 and $750,000 the relief shrinks as the price rises. Over $750,000 there's no first home relief at all, and the grant's $750,000 limit is the same line, so a new home just over $750,000 misses both.
If you're near the line, the price you agree is worth checking before you sign.
The duty relief's conditions
Every buyer enrolled to vote in Victorian elections. All purchasers, not just one. No other state asks this.
At least one buyer is an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
Live in it for 12 months in a row, starting within 12 months of settlement.
Active Australian Defence Force members are exempt from the living-in requirement. Defence force reservists and Australian Public Service staff are not.
The dependent child concession, and why it rarely helps
Victoria has a separate duty exemption or concession for a first home owner with a dependent child: a child under 18 in your care who usually lives with you. Its limits are a dutiable value of $150,000 for the exemption and $200,000 for the concession, which almost no home in Victoria comes in under today. It can be claimed alongside the standard first home buyer relief, but for nearly every buyer the standard relief is the one that counts.
The federal schemes you can use as well
The 5% Deposit Scheme. A 5% deposit with no lenders mortgage insurance, on a price up to $950,000 in Melbourne and Geelong or $650,000 elsewhere in Victoria. Ballarat and Bendigo are on the lower figure.
Help to Buy. The government takes a share of up to 30% of an existing home's price, or 40% of a new one, from a 2% deposit, within income limits.
The First Home Super Saver Scheme. Save part of your deposit through your super, up to $15,000 a year and $50,000 in total.
You can't use the 5% Deposit Scheme and Help to Buy together. Help to Buy still lets you take state grants and duty concessions.
What the whole package looks like
An illustration, not a client file. A first buyer pays $580,000 for an established unit in Melbourne. There's no grant, because it isn't new. There's no stamp duty, because it's under $600,000. Through the 5% Deposit Scheme, a $29,000 deposit is enough, with no lenders mortgage insurance, well under Melbourne's $950,000 limit.
Buy a new home for $700,000 instead, and the $10,000 grant applies, the duty is reduced rather than nil, and the 5% Deposit Scheme still applies.
What to do before you sign, and when the money arrives
Check your enrolment. Every buyer must be enrolled to vote in Victoria for the duty relief.
Check the price against the lines: $600,000 for nil duty, $750,000 for the grant and any duty relief.
Claim the duty relief through your conveyancer or solicitor, who usually applies it at settlement.
Plan your deposit without the grant. It's usually paid at settlement, or at the first progress payment on a build, so it can't pay the deposit when you sign.
Move in within 12 months and stay 12 months in a row.
Victorian first home buyer questions
$10,000 for a new home valued up to $750,000 (State Revenue Office Victoria, updated 29 September 2026). For an off-the-plan purchase, the contract price is the value tested.
Buying your first home in Victoria?
Tell me where you're buying, roughly the price, whether it's new or established, and what you've saved. I'll tell you what the grant, the duty relief and the federal schemes would give you, and what to have in place before you sign.
You'll hear back within the hour in business hours, and by 9am the next business day after hours.
Sources
- 1
State Revenue Office Victoria, First Home Owner Grant current rates (updated 29 September 2026). Re-checked 2 October 2026.
- 2
State Revenue Office Victoria, Understanding the First Home Owner Grant (updated 29 September 2026). Re-checked 2 October 2026.
- 3
State Revenue Office Victoria, First home buyer duty exemption or concession (updated 15 September 2026). Re-checked 2 October 2026.
- 4
State Revenue Office Victoria, First home owner with a dependent child exemption or concession (updated 23 April 2026). Read 27 August 2026.
- 5
Housing Australia, 5% Deposit Scheme guide dated 1 July 2026. Checked 29 September 2026.
- 6
firsthomebuyers.gov.au, Help to Buy scheme. Checked 2 October 2026.
- 7
Australian Taxation Office, First Home Super Saver Scheme (published 8 July 2026). Read 2 October 2026.
Updated 3 October 2026