Queensland's off-the-plan duty concession ends October 21: what it means if you're buying an apartment or townhouse

If you are weighing up an off-the-plan apartment or townhouse in Queensland, there is a date worth putting in your calendar: 21 October 2026. That is when the state's temporary off-the-plan transfer duty concession closes to new contracts, and conveyancers across the state are already flagging it as the last real window to lock in the saving before it disappears.

What the concession actually does

Queensland's off-the-plan duty concession lets eligible buyers exclude the cost of construction completed after the contract date from the dutiable value of the property. In plain terms, if you sign early in a project's construction and most of the build still lies ahead of you, only the value at the time you sign is counted for transfer duty, not the finished product. The concession applies to apartments or townhouses within a strata subdivision that shares common property such as lifts, lobbies or driveways, and there is no purchase price threshold attached to it.

This concession is separate to, and broader than, Queensland's First Home (New Home) Concession, which already removes transfer duty entirely for eligible first home buyers purchasing a new home, with no price cap. The off-the-plan concession is open to any buyer, including investors and people who are not buying their first home, which is what makes the looming deadline relevant well beyond the first home buyer market.

Who this deadline actually matters for

Not every first home buyer needs this concession. If your off-the-plan apartment qualifies as a new home and you meet the First Home Concession's eligibility rules, you may already be paying no transfer duty at all under that separate scheme. The off-the-plan concession tends to matter most for:

• Buyers who do not fully qualify for the first home concession, for example because you are buying with a partner who has owned property before, or the home does not meet the "new home" definition.
• Second-property buyers and downsizers purchasing an off-the-plan apartment or townhouse who would otherwise pay full duty on the completed value.
• Anyone signing early in a project's construction timeline, since the concession's value depends on how much building work is still left to do when you sign. A contract signed at the foundation stage generally has more construction cost to exclude than one signed close to completion.

What to do before the deadline

A deadline that is still a few weeks away is exactly the kind of thing that gets missed in the rush of inspections, finance approval and contract negotiation. A few practical steps can help:

• Ask your conveyancer or solicitor early whether the specific development you are looking at, and your own circumstances, qualify for the off-the-plan concession, the First Home Concession, or potentially both in different ways depending on the purchase.
• Confirm the contract date you are working toward with the developer or agent. The concession applies to contracts signed before 21 October 2026, so settlement can happen later, but the date you sign is what counts.
• Do not assume every off-the-plan listing automatically qualifies. Strata subdivision and shared common property are part of the eligibility test, so a standalone house and land package is unlikely to be covered.
• Factor stamp duty, whatever the outcome, into your overall budget rather than treating it as an afterthought once you have found a property you like.

Run the numbers

These tools can help you see how a Queensland off-the-plan purchase fits your budget before you commit:

• Stamp Duty Calculator - estimate your transfer duty and check how first home buyer concessions apply to your situation.
• True Cost Calculator - see the full picture of upfront costs beyond duty, including fees most buyers forget to budget for.
• Grant Stacker - check which Queensland grants and concessions you may be able to combine on top of any duty savings.