First Home Buyer Grant Stacker

Yes, these two can stack on the same purchase. The First Home Owner Grant is a cash payment from your state or territory government (amounts range from $10,000 in NSW, VIC and WA up to $50,000 in the NT, depending on where you buy and whether you are contracting a new home). The First Home Guarantee is a separate federal scheme that lets eligible buyers purchase with as little as a 5% deposit and pay no Lenders Mortgage Insurance. Because they come from different levels of government and serve different purposes, they can be used together - though your state grant and stamp duty concession cannot be stacked on top of Help to Buy or the QLD Boost to Buy at the same time as the First Home Guarantee.

The three main federal and state shared-equity or deposit schemes are mutually exclusive: Help to Buy, the First Home Guarantee (5% Deposit Scheme), and Queensland's Boost to Buy cannot be used on the same purchase. You must choose one of these for any given transaction. State FHOG cash grants and stamp duty concessions sit outside this exclusivity rule, so they may still apply on top of whichever single federal scheme you choose, provided you meet that scheme's eligibility conditions.

The FHSS lets eligible buyers salary sacrifice voluntary contributions into superannuation at a concessional tax rate, then withdraw those savings to put toward a deposit. Because it operates through the super system rather than at settlement, it is not mutually exclusive with the FHOG, the First Home Guarantee, or stamp duty concessions - meaning it can potentially be used alongside all of them. The tax saving depends on your income and how much you contribute each year, and the ATO makes the final determination on release applications.

No. The ACT abolished its First Home Owner Grant in 2019. Instead, eligible first home buyers in the ACT may be able to access the Home Buyer Concession Scheme, which can remove stamp duty on the purchase. From 1 July 2026 the scheme has no income threshold and no property value limit, so eligible buyers may pay $0 stamp duty on a home or vacant land at any price. Other eligibility rules still apply, such as not having owned property in the last 5 years. The ACT Revenue Office makes the final eligibility determination.

Yes, a few are worth knowing about. In Tasmania the FHOG stepped down from $30,000 to $20,000 on 1 July 2026 and covers transactions commencing up to 30 June 2027, and Tasmania's full stamp duty exemption for homes under $750,000 closed on 30 June 2026 without being extended. The NT's $50,000 HomeGrown Territory Grant runs until contracts are signed by 30 September 2027. In Western Australia the grant price cap rose to $800,000 south of the 26th parallel for transactions from 7 May 2026, and the off-the-plan duty concession for all buyers (no duty up to $800,000, then phasing down to a 50% concession from $900,000, capped at $50,000) now runs until 30 June 2028. Queensland's $30,000 grant was continued rather than reduced, so it has no current expiry. If you are buying in a state with a deadline and your timing is flexible, the contract signing date matters - the relevant state revenue office makes the final determination.

It makes a large difference. The First Home Owner Grant in every state applies only to new homes (newly built, off-the-plan, or a house and land package). Several stamp duty concessions are also more generous on new builds - Queensland abolished stamp duty entirely for FHBs buying new homes with no price cap from May 2025, and South Australia has no stamp duty for FHBs on new homes with no price cap either. The federal Help to Buy scheme contributes up to 40% equity on a new home versus 30% on an existing one. Entering your property type in the tool will show how the available support shifts between new and established purchases.

The First Home Guarantee (also called the 5% Deposit Scheme) lets eligible first home buyers purchase with a 5% deposit without paying Lenders Mortgage Insurance, which can otherwise cost tens of thousands of dollars on a low-deposit loan. There is no income cap to qualify, and places are unlimited as of 1 October 2025. Price caps apply and vary by state and location - for example, in Sydney the cap is $1,500,000 while in regional NSW it is $800,000. The tool estimates the LMI saving based on the property price and deposit you enter, but the actual amount depends on lender pricing and your specific loan, so the relevant lender or a mortgage broker can give you a precise figure.