From 1 July 2026 the ACT Home Buyer Concession Scheme removed its income test and its property price cap, so eligible first home buyers in Canberra pay zero stamp duty at any price. How HBCS works in 2026, how Help to Buy and the 5% Deposit Scheme stack on top, and what the house vs unit price gap means for buyers now that the old cap is gone.
The ACT quietly became the most generous jurisdiction in Australia for first home buyers on 1 July 2026. From that date the Home Buyer Concession Scheme removed both its income threshold and its property price cap, which means an eligible buyer in Canberra pays $0 stamp duty on a home, a unit or vacant land at any price. There is no First Home Owner Grant here, but the stamp duty saving on a typical Canberra purchase is usually worth more than any state grant on offer elsewhere.
This guide walks through how the ACT scheme works, how it stacks with Help to Buy and the federal 5% Deposit Scheme, and where Canberra's current price pattern leaves first home buyers who are deciding between a house and a unit.
The ACT Home Buyer Concession Scheme (HBCS) is the territory's main support for first home buyers. It replaces the First Home Owner Grant, which was phased out in the ACT in 2019. HBCS does not pay you cash. Instead it eliminates the stamp duty on your purchase, which on a median Canberra property is typically between $25,000 and $45,000 depending on price.
From 1 July 2026 the ACT Revenue Office removed the two restrictions that previously ruled many buyers out of HBCS:
You still need to meet the ownership rule, which is the main eligibility gate. Each buyer, and each buyer's domestic partner, must not have owned or held a legal or equitable interest in any other property (anywhere in Australia or overseas) in the 5 years before the transaction. The scheme is not strictly limited to first home buyers, which means owner occupiers who have been out of the market for five or more years can also claim it. You also need to be at least 18 and plan to live in the home for a continuous year starting within a year of settlement.
The federal schemes layer cleanly on top of HBCS because none of them charge stamp duty on your behalf, so there is no double dipping to worry about.
Help to Buy is the federal shared equity scheme. The Commonwealth takes a stake in your home in exchange for a smaller mortgage. In the ACT the price cap is $1,000,000 across the territory. The equity split is up to 40% on a new build and 30% on an established home, and you only need a 2% deposit to apply. The income caps lifted from 1 July 2026 and now sit at $103,000 for a single applicant and $165,000 for a couple or single parent.
The 5% Deposit Scheme (First Home Guarantee) is the alternative. The federal government guarantees the portion of your loan above 80%, which means you avoid Lenders Mortgage Insurance with just a 5% deposit. There are no income caps and no limit on places from 1 October 2025, and the ACT price cap is $1,000,000. Single parents and legal guardians can use the scheme on a 2% deposit.
A worked example on an illustrative $650,000 Canberra unit: with Help to Buy at 30% equity you borrow around $442,000 and the Commonwealth takes a stake worth about $195,000, with your deposit around $13,000. On HBCS you pay no stamp duty on top. The same buyer using the 5% Deposit Scheme instead would need a deposit of about $32,500, carry a loan near $617,500, still pay zero stamp duty, and keep 100% of future growth.
The removal of the price cap is especially useful in Canberra because the market splits sharply between houses and units. Detached house prices have been drifting up through 2026, but Canberra entry level units softened over the past twelve months and remain substantially cheaper than houses in the same suburb.
For first home buyers that creates a real value window. A unit in Belconnen or along the Gungahlin light rail corridor is often well under the typical house price in the same suburb, and the HBCS exemption removes stamp duty regardless of which type you choose. The old price cap effectively forced many buyers toward units; now the choice is driven by what suits you to live in, not by what qualifies for the concession.
Suburbs worth researching include Belconnen for units close to the university and the planned light rail extension, Gungahlin for newer townhouses in the northern growth corridor, and Tuggeranong for detached houses on larger blocks in the south. Your conveyancer can confirm whether a specific property qualifies for HBCS at settlement.
A few practical things to work through before you sign a contract in the ACT in 2026:
Use these tools to see what the ACT scheme and the federal schemes look like for your situation: