QLD first home buyers
QLD First Home Owner Grant
The Queensland First Home Owner Grant is a one-off payment of $30,000 from the state government to eligible first home buyers who buy or build a new home in Queensland and move into it themselves.
This page explains the grant as it stands in September 2026, with every figure sourced to the Queensland Revenue Office. It covers eligibility, the property value cap, how the grant stacks with transfer duty relief, the application process and what the rule means around Salisbury, where Your Mortgage Broker Salisbury(https://business.google.com/) arranges finance for first home buyers. If you want the lending side rather than the grant side, see first home buyer loans.
What It Is Worth Right Now
The grant is worth $30,000 for eligible contracts signed on or after 20 November 2023, according to the Queensland Revenue Office. That is double the $15,000 paid on contracts signed before that date, and the doubling is where most of the confusion starts: older articles, older lender fact sheets and some older QRO subpages still quote the lower figure. For an owner-builder, the amount depends on when the foundations were laid, again at $30,000 on or after that November date. The Queensland State Budget of 23 June 2026 made no change to the amount or the cap, so the $30,000 figure is the one to plan around. Worth double-checking anything you read that still says $15,000, because a buyer budgeting off a stale number is short $15,000 on the day of settlement.
Who Qualifies
The eligibility rules sit on the QRO eligibility page and they are tested on every applicant, jointly or alone:
Age and legal capacity
Citizenship or residency
No prior Australian property
Occupancy commitment
A new home, not any home
Under the value cap
Which Properties It Covers
The property-type rules decide more applications than the money rules do, so this table summarises what the eligibility page actually allows before you fall in love with a particular listing:
| Property situation | Grant eligible? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| New home, never occupied or sold as a residence | Yes | House, unit, duplex or townhouse, value under $750,000 |
| Substantially renovated by the seller | Yes, limited cases | Cosmetic work such as a kitchen remodel or re-carpeting does not count; most of the building must be removed or replaced |
| Off-the-plan purchase | Yes | Value tested against the contract, under the cap |
| Comprehensive contract to build | Yes | Contract price plus the unencumbered land value at contract date must be under $750,000 |
| Owner-builder foundations | Yes | $30,000 where foundations are laid on or after 20 November 2023 |
| Established home, any price | No | The QRO states there are no home owner grants for established homes |
Why The Rule Bites Here
The Cap Versus Local Stock
Salisbury's housing stock is overwhelmingly established: about 89 per cent of dwellings are separate houses, with only a small share of flats and apartments, and a median household mortgage repayment of about $2,000 a month tells you most existing homes here trade comfortably inside the $750,000 cap. That is exactly the trap. Affordability is not the problem in this pocket of Brisbane's south, property type is, and the established homes that dominate the suburb's streets attract no grant at any price.
Where Eligible New Stock Actually Sits
New-build stock is thin on the ground locally, with 194 dwelling approvals across the past five years across the whole suburb against 2,426 existing dwellings. The grant-eligible properties a Salisbury buyer can realistically chase tend to be duplexes, townhouses and units on redevelopment sites, or house-and-land packages further out where land is still being released. Buyers fixated on a quarter-acre established house are shopping for a grant the rules will never pay.
The Gap Between Eligible and Desirable
There is a real gap between what qualifies and what many first buyers actually want. A brand-new townhouse twelve kilometres from the CBD is grant-eligible; a post-war timber house on a big block eight point nine kilometres from the city is not. With a median household income around $2,133 a week, local buyers can often service the established home they prefer, so the honest question is whether $30,000 justifies buying a property type you did not set out to buy. Sometimes it does. Frequently it does not.
What That Means For Your Search
In practice, the grant should shape where you look, not whether you buy. If a new duplex or townhouse genuinely suits you, the $30,000 plus duty relief on the same purchase is a material head start and construction lending opens up further options. If only an established house will do, budget as though no grant exists and treat the separate first home duty concession, covered next, as the relief that actually applies to you.
How It Stacks With Duty Relief
The grant and the first home transfer duty concession are separate schemes with separate rules, and a new home under $750,000 can receive both on the same purchase:
No duty at all for most first homes
A reduced band above that
The ceiling
Established homes still qualify here
Living there is not optional
Renting a room is allowed
A vacant land variant exists
Residency rules tightened recently
How it works
How To Apply And When Money Arrives
- 1
Through An Approved Agent
Applying through an approved agent, typically a bank or lender you are borrowing from, is the fastest route. For a purchase, the grant is generally paid at settlement, which means it can sit on your side of the settlement statement as real money on the day you need it rather than arriving months later as a reimbursement.
- 2
Directly To The QRO
Lodging directly with the Queensland Revenue Office works, but the money does not move until the home is complete and every supporting document has been supplied. For a purchase that means waiting until completion and title registration before seeing funds, which can leave you carrying costs the grant was meant to offset, so most buyers building should think carefully about this route.
- 3
Building Contracts And Owner-Builders
For a contract to build or an owner-builder project, the grant is paid after completion, supported by the final inspection certificate or certificate of occupancy. Because construction runs months, plan your cash flow on the assumption that no grant money arrives until the build is finished, and confirm the timing with your lender at approval rather than at the end.
- 4
The Deadline
Applications must be lodged within one year of taking possession and title registration for a purchase, or within one year of completion for a build. Missing the deadline forfeits the grant entirely, so diarise the date when you settle, not when you remember.
Worth knowing early
What Gets An Application Knocked Back
Most refusals come from a handful of avoidable mistakes, all documented by the QRO:
- Buying established and assuming it qualifies The most common refusal in established suburbs like this one, because the grant simply does not exist for previously occupied homes.
- Contract value at or over $750,000 The cutoff is hard. The grant is not reduced at $750,000, it is refused, and contract variations count toward the total.
- The house-and-land structure A land contract plus a separate building contract is a contract-to-build transaction, so the value test includes the land's unencumbered value at the contract date, which many buyers forget.
- Land bought years earlier Land purchased cheaply that has since risen in value can push a build over the cap when the two figures are combined.
- A non-comprehensive building contract Contracts excluding benchtops, electrical or similar items fail the contract-to-build test outright.
- Occupancy failures Moving in later than one year after completion, or leaving before six continuous months, ends the claim.
- Prior ownership by a spouse An applicant who qualifies can be sunk by a partner's forgotten ownership history anywhere in Australia.
- Wrong applicant structure Companies and trusts cannot apply, no exceptions worth planning around.
Where we work
Areas We Service
Your Mortgage Broker Salisbury is a mortgage broker serving Salisbury and the surrounding south side suburbs, and this grant, the duty concession and the lending behind them apply the same way across Moorooka, Tarragindi, Nathan, Coopers Plains and Rocklea. Each suburb page looks at how local property types and price points interact with first home buying.
Questions answered
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the QLD First Home Owner Grant worth?
Contracts signed on or after 20 November 2023 attract $30,000 for an eligible new home. Contracts signed before that date attracted $15,000, which is why the older figure still circulates.
Can I get the grant on an established home?
No. The grant covers new homes only: homes never occupied as a residence, substantially renovated properties, or a contract to build. The Queensland Revenue Office states plainly there are no grants for established homes.
What is the property price cap for the grant?
The total value of the home and land must be less than $750,000, including any contract variations. At $750,000 or more the grant is refused outright, not reduced.
Do I have to live in the property to keep the grant?
Yes. You must move in within one year of completion and live there continuously for six months. Only exceptional circumstances, at the Commissioner's discretion, allow otherwise.
Is the grant different from stamp duty relief?
Yes, and you may be able to claim both. The grant covers new homes under $750,000. The separate first home duty concession covers established and new homes, with no duty payable at $700,000 or under.
How long does the grant take to arrive?
Applying through an approved agent such as a bank or lender is the fastest route, generally paid at settlement. Applications lodged directly with the Queensland Revenue Office wait until the home is complete and documents are supplied.
Mortgage broker for Salisbury and the suburbs around it
Get In Touch
If you are weighing a new townhouse against an established home and want to know what the grant and duty relief are actually worth in your numbers, talk it through before you sign anything. Call (07) 3523 7116 today. You will speak with a broker operating under an Australian Credit Licence, with our fee and commission structure published in full, our process and timelines in writing, and worked examples with real numbers rather than vague promises.