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Queensland gives first home buyers help in two main forms: a First Home Owner Grant for new homes, and concessions that reduce or remove transfer duty (stamp duty) on both homes and vacant land bought to build on. Federal programs like the Home Guarantee Scheme sit alongside the state help and can often be combined with it. Queensland's settings have moved more than most states' in recent years — grant amounts and duty relief have both been changed with budget cycles — so this guide focuses on how each type of help works and flags where the details move. The facts here were last reviewed in July 2026; always confirm the current position with the Queensland Revenue Office before making decisions.
The First Home Owner Grant is a one-off payment for first home buyers who buy or build a brand-new home — a house, unit or townhouse that has not previously been occupied or sold as a place of residence, including off-the-plan purchases and substantial renovations in some cases. Established homes do not qualify for the grant.
The grant amount in Queensland has changed several times in recent years, including a temporary boosted amount tied to specific contract signing dates. Because the amount that applies depends on when you sign your contract, do not rely on a figure you have seen quoted — check the current amount, the contract date windows and the property value cap with the Queensland Revenue Office. Most buyers apply through their lender with their home loan application, which times the payment to settlement or the first construction progress payment.
Duty relief is where Queensland first home buyers often save the most, and it comes in several distinct pieces:
Because the pieces interact — new versus established, home versus land, first home versus home concession — model your specific purchase with our stamp duty calculator and verify the result against the Queensland Revenue Office's own tools.
All of this help is aimed at owner-occupiers, and Queensland attaches real conditions to the first year or so of ownership. In general terms, you must move into the home within a set period and occupy it as your principal place of residence, and disposing of the property — selling it, or in some circumstances renting it out — before the required period ends can trigger a partial or full clawback of the concession or grant.
The rules about what you can and cannot do during that period have changed over time (for example, the treatment of renting out a room while you live in the home has been relaxed compared with earlier years). If your circumstances change after settlement — a job transfer, a relationship change — contact the Queensland Revenue Office promptly rather than hoping it goes unnoticed; voluntary disclosure is treated far better than a compliance finding.
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The federal Home Guarantee Scheme, administered by Housing Australia, allows eligible buyers to purchase with a deposit as small as 5 per cent without paying lenders mortgage insurance, because the Commonwealth guarantees part of the loan to the lender. Property price caps apply and differ between Brisbane and regional Queensland, and the scheme has been expanded in recent years — check the current caps and conditions with Housing Australia.
The federal Help to Buy shared equity scheme, where the government takes an equity stake in exchange for contributing to the purchase price, is a further option for eligible buyers. These federal programs are separate from Queensland's grant and duty concessions, and using one does not exclude the others — the practical test is whether your purchase fits within every relevant cap at once. Our low deposit home loans guide compares these pathways with alternatives like guarantor loans and simply paying LMI.
Each scheme has its own fine print, but Queensland and federal first home buyer help shares a familiar shape:
Order of operations matters more than most buyers expect. A Home Guarantee Scheme place is reserved through a participating lender at application; the grant is lodged with your loan application; and the duty concession is claimed through your conveyancer on the transfer documents before settlement. Each piece changes your funds to complete, so confirm what you genuinely qualify for before you sign a contract, not after. Start with our first home buyer guide for the end-to-end process, and use the borrowing capacity calculator to set a realistic price ceiling that keeps you inside the concession thresholds that matter to you.
A broker can confirm which lenders participate in the Home Guarantee Scheme, lodge your grant application alongside the loan, and sanity-check your settlement figures against the duty relief you actually qualify for. Queensland's settings have moved often, so a quick early conversation is worth having — get in touch and we can map the current help against your plans before you start making offers.
The amount depends on when you sign your contract — Queensland has changed the grant several times in recent years, including a temporary boosted amount tied to specific contract date windows. Rather than relying on a quoted figure, check the current amount and the dates it applies to with the Queensland Revenue Office before budgeting around it.
Often little or none. The first home concession removes duty below set value thresholds and reduces it above them, and as at July 2026 Queensland has expanded relief so that eligible first home buyers purchasing brand-new homes can pay no transfer duty at all. Thresholds and conditions change, so confirm the current settings with the Queensland Revenue Office.
Yes. Queensland has a dedicated first home vacant land concession with its own value thresholds, separate from the concession for buying an existing or new home. It is aimed at buyers who will build and then live in the home, and residence requirements apply once the home is built. Check the current thresholds with the Queensland Revenue Office.
Not straight away. The grant and duty concessions carry occupation requirements, and selling or renting out the whole property before the required period ends can trigger repayment of some or all of the benefit. The treatment of renting out a room while you still live there has been relaxed in recent years — check the current rules, and tell the Queensland Revenue Office if your circumstances change.
Potentially yes. The federal scheme is separate from Queensland's grant and duty relief, and eligible buyers can combine them provided the purchase satisfies every scheme's own rules and price caps at the same time. A broker can check the current caps for your location and confirm which lenders participate.
This article is general information only and doesn't consider your personal objectives, financial situation or needs — it isn't personal credit advice, and lending criteria, rates, fees and government schemes change. Before acting, speak with a licensed MakeMyLoan broker or credit representative who will assess your circumstances and provide a credit guide before any credit assistance is given.
