WA's May 2026 budget lifted first home buyer stamp duty thresholds by $100,000 and extended the off-the-plan concession to 2028. See what changed.
On May 7, 2026, the Western Australian government announced a $297.3 million housing taxation package that directly expands the benefits available to first home buyers in the state. Stamp duty thresholds were raised, the off-the-plan concession was extended by two years, and the eligibility rules were simplified - all effective immediately for contracts entered into on or after May 7. If you are buying in WA or considering it, these changes are worth understanding before you sign anything.
One of the most straightforward changes in the package is a $100,000 increase to the vacant land duty thresholds for first home buyers. Previously, a first home buyer purchasing vacant land paid no stamp duty on land valued up to $350,000. That threshold is now $450,000.
The upper limit for the concessional rate has also lifted, from $450,000 to $550,000. Buyers purchasing land between those two figures now pay a reduced rate rather than the standard rate that applied before the budget.
In practical terms, this matters most for buyers assembling a house-and-land package or purchasing a lot in a new estate. If the land component of your purchase was previously just above the old duty-free threshold, you may now sit comfortably inside the new exemption zone. Use the Stamp Duty Calculator to compare what you would have paid under the old thresholds and what applies now.
The off-the-plan transfer duty concession was scheduled to expire on June 30, 2026 - just seven weeks from the budget announcement. The government has now extended it by two years, to June 30, 2028, removing what would have been a significant time pressure on buyers considering new apartment and townhouse purchases.
The concession has also been made more generous for pre-construction purchases entered into on or after March 12, 2026:
The survey strata expansion is notable. Many smaller unit blocks and villa developments in Perth and regional WA are structured as survey strata, meaning buyers in those projects previously missed out on the off-the-plan concession even when purchasing pre-construction. That gap has now been closed.
Under the previous rules, eligibility for the first home owner rate of duty was linked to the WA First Home Owner Grant value caps. If the property value exceeded the FHOG cap, a buyer lost access not just to the grant but also to the concessional duty rate - even if the purchase itself was a straightforward first home purchase.
The budget removes that link. First home buyers can now access the duty concession even if the transaction value exceeds the FHOG cap. The two benefits are evaluated independently. This simplifies the eligibility picture and means buyers at the upper end of their budget do not face a cliff where exceeding one threshold strips away a separate benefit.
Taken together, the three changes reshape the cost picture for WA first home buyers in a few specific scenarios:
All of these changes apply to transactions entered into on or after May 7, 2026 - so if you are in the process of negotiating or preparing a contract in WA right now, it is worth pausing to confirm which concessions apply to your specific purchase. A conveyancer or settlement agent familiar with WA first home buyer programs can confirm your eligibility under the updated rules before you sign.
The WA changes sit alongside the national first home buyer support landscape - the federal First Home Guarantee (5% deposit, no LMI), Help to Buy shared equity, and the FHSS super savings scheme are all available to eligible WA buyers on top of the state concessions. Stacking these correctly can meaningfully reduce both your upfront costs and the size of the loan you need to service.
Use these tools to understand how the WA changes fit your buying situation: