VIC first home buyers
VIC First Home Owner Grant
The Victorian First Home Owner Grant is a one-off state government payment to eligible first home buyers who buy or build a new home in Victoria. It applies to homes valued under a set cap and never to established homes.
This page explains who qualifies, which properties the grant covers, how it combines with first home buyer duty relief, and how the rules land in practice for buyers looking around Kalkallo. Your Mortgage Broker Kalkallo(/) works with first home buyers across this corridor, and our about page explains how we operate.
What It Is Worth Right Now
The grant is worth $10,000, paid once per eligible transaction, and one amount applies across the whole state, metropolitan and regional alike. Many buyers still believe regional Victoria carries a larger payment, because a separate regional scheme once existed, but that scheme is closed and does not apply to current contracts. The current figure is published by the State Revenue Office, and it is the only number that matters for a contract signed today. The grant is also not the only benefit available: a separate duty exemption or concession can be worth far more than the grant itself on the right purchase, which is why the two schemes should always be assessed together rather than one at a time.
Who Qualifies
Eligibility turns on the applicants, their history and how they intend to use the home. The SRO sets each test in its eligibility guidance, and every one of the following must be satisfied:
Natural persons only
Citizen or permanent resident
Genuine first timers
A new home
Under the value cap
Genuine occupancy
On-time application
Which Properties It Covers
The eligible-property definition is narrower than most buyers expect, and the fastest way to lose the grant is assuming the wrong purchase qualifies. This table sets out what counts and what does not:
| Property | Grant eligibility | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| New house, townhouse, apartment or unit, never sold or occupied | Eligible | The classic house-and-land purchase in growth corridors |
| Substantially renovated home | Eligible | Must be a genuine renovation creating a new home, not a cosmetic refresh |
| Home built to replace a demolished one | Eligible | The replacement dwelling must meet the new-home tests |
| Off-the-plan purchase | Eligible | The contract price is tested against the $750,000 cap |
| Established home, any price | Not eligible | No grant at any price point, though duty relief may still apply |
| Home previously leased or used for short-stay accommodation | Not eligible | Fails the never-occupied test even if it looks new |
Why The Rule Bites Here
Almost everything is a new build
This corner of Hume is one of the most active construction areas in Victoria: 7,521 dwellings were approved across the last five years against roughly 1,626 standing dwellings, placing the suburb at the very top of the state's building activity ranking. That means most of the stock a first home buyer will actually inspect qualifies as new.
The price cap is the real filter
The rule that bites is the $750,000 cap, not the new-build requirement. House-and-land packages here keep pushing upward in price, and a contract over the cap loses the grant entirely, so the search is really for a new home that lands under the line. Checking the SRO's value cap rules before signing anything is the single most valuable piece of diligence available.
Established stock is the trap
With so much new building nearby, the tempting alternative is an established house a few suburbs over, priced under the cap and move-in ready. That purchase receives no grant at any price, and buyers who have budgeted around the $10,000 find the gap exactly where it hurts most.
What this means for your search
Practically, a Kalkallo buyer should run the search in this order: new or off-the-plan, priced under $750,000, with the contract price fixed in writing before the cap is assumed. A median household here already carries a mortgage repayment of about $2,000 a month on household incomes around $2,047 a week, so the grant and the duty savings together genuinely change what is affordable. Our first home buyer loans page covers how lenders assess these applications.
How It Stacks With Duty Relief
The grant and the duty exemption or concession are separate schemes with separate thresholds, and stacking them correctly is where the real money sits. The SRO duty page sets out the bands:
Full duty exemption under $600,000
Sliding concession from $600,001 to $750,000
Established homes still get duty relief
Vacant land is covered too
The occupancy rules mirror each other
Each benefit is once only
How it works
How To Apply And When Money Arrives
- 1
Choose your lodgement route
Most buyers lodge through an approved agent, which in practice means their lender, because the claim is processed alongside the loan application and nothing extra needs chasing. Lodging directly with the State Revenue Office remains available where the purchase proceeds without a loan or the lender will not act as agent.
- 2
Gather the right documents
Expect to prove identity and citizenship or residency for each applicant, supply the contract of sale, and evidence the purchase price or build cost. Where a guarantor or family gift forms part of the deposit, our guarantor and low deposit home loans page explains how lenders document those arrangements separately from the grant claim.
- 3
Mind the deadline
The application must be lodged within 12 months of settlement, or within 12 months of completion where you built. Missing it forfeits the payment entirely, and the SRO does not extend the window for oversight, so diarise the date the day settlement is confirmed.
- 4
Wait for completion to trigger payment
The SRO does not publish fixed payment dates, and the honest position is that the grant is paid once the eligible transaction completes, which for a construction purchase means at or after completion rather than at land settlement. Never budget for the $10,000 arriving before it actually lands in your account.
Worth knowing early
What Gets An Application Knocked Back
These are the failure modes the SRO sees repeatedly, and every one of them is avoidable with a contract read before signing:
- Buying established and assuming eligibility The most common knock-back of all: a perfectly good first home that simply fails the new-home test.
- A "new" home that has been lived in A display-home buyback, a former rental or a short-stay property fails the never-occupied rule, even if the paint is fresh.
- The contract drifting over $750,000 Upgrades and variations signed after the original contract can push the price past the cap, taking the grant with it.
- Breaking the occupancy rule Moving in late, or renting the home out before the full 12 continuous months are served, jeopardises the payment and can trigger repayment.
- A partner's hidden history An applicant's partner having owned property before, or claimed a grant interstate, disqualifies the application even though the buyer themselves is a genuine first timer.
- Applying as a company or trust The structure fails at the first test, so buyers purchasing through a trust for other reasons need to know the grant is off the table.
- Missing the 12-month lodgement window Settlement passes, life moves on, and the deadline quietly expires.
Where we work
Areas We Service
Your Mortgage Broker Kalkallo helps first home buyers across Melbourne's northern growth corridor, and this grant page applies equally to buyers looking at Donnybrook, Mickleham, Beveridge, Craigieburn and Wollert. Every one of those suburbs shares the same pattern: heavy new-build activity, prices brushing the $750,000 cap, and buyers who benefit most from getting the grant and duty relief assessed together before they sign a contract.
Questions answered
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the VIC First Home Owner Grant worth?
The grant is a one-off payment of $10,000. One amount applies statewide, and the former separate regional grant is a closed scheme that does not apply to current contracts.
Can I get the grant on an established home?
No. The grant only applies to a new home that has never been sold or occupied before purchase, a substantially renovated home, or an off-the-plan purchase.
What is the property price cap for the grant?
The home must be valued at up to $750,000. For off-the-plan purchases, the contract price is what counts against the cap.
Do I have to live in the property to keep the grant?
Yes. At least one applicant must live in the home as their principal place of residence for at least 12 continuous months, starting within 12 months of settlement or completion.
Is the grant different from stamp duty relief?
Yes, they are separate schemes. The duty exemption or concession applies to homes up to $750,000 and can apply to established homes, which the grant never covers.
How long does the grant take to arrive?
You apply through your lender as an approved agent or directly to the State Revenue Office, within 12 months of settlement or completion, and payment follows once the transaction completes.
Mortgage broker for Kalkallo and the suburbs around it
Get In Touch
If you are weighing a house-and-land package against the grant's eligibility rules, a short conversation will map the numbers before you commit. Call (03) 9122 8522 to talk it through with a broker operating under an Australian Credit Licence, with AFCA membership and a published fee structure, at no cost for the first conversation.