QLD first home buyers
QLD First Home Owner Grant
The Queensland First Home Owner Grant is a state government payment of $30,000 to eligible first home buyers who buy or build a brand new home in Queensland valued under the cap. It is paid on top of any transfer duty concession.
This page explains who qualifies, which properties the grant covers, how it stacks with duty relief and where the money arrives in the process, with every figure linked to the Queensland Revenue Office. Your Mortgage Broker Burpengary East(/), a mortgage broker based in Burpengary East, keeps this page current because the first question most first home buyers here ask is what they are actually entitled to.
What It Is Worth Right Now
For contracts signed on or after 20 November 2023, the grant pays $30,000, double the $15,000 that applied before that date. The doubling is the surprising part for most buyers, because the older figure still dominates the search results and even some lender pages, and buyers routinely budget $15,000 short of what the scheme actually pays. Owner-builders get the same amounts, keyed to when the foundations were laid rather than when a contract was signed.
The Queensland Revenue Office landing page references the 2026 State Budget of 23 June 2026, and no change to the $30,000 amount or the value cap is stated on the eligibility page as at September 2026. Grant amounts and caps do move between budgets, so treat this page as current as at its last updated date and confirm the figure on the QRO landing page before you rely on it in a deposit calculation.
Who Qualifies
Eligibility is tested on the person, the property and the price, and all three have to line up at the same time. The core tests, each drawn from the QRO eligibility page, are:
Age and applicant type
Citizenship or residency
Prior property ownership
A new home only
Under the value cap
Genuine occupancy
The citizenship test tightened for the duty concession from 1 August 2026, so if any applicant holds a temporary visa, check the current QRO position before assuming eligibility.
Which Properties It Covers
The property type test is where most confusion sits, because the grant and the duty concession treat established homes differently. The comparison below comes straight from the QRO eligibility page:
| Property type | Grant? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| New home, never occupied or sold as a residence | Yes | House, unit, duplex or townhouse |
| Substantially renovated home completed by the seller | Yes | Limited circumstances; cosmetic work does not qualify |
| Off-the-plan purchase | Yes | Must meet the new-home definition at completion |
| Contract to build with a comprehensive home building contract | Yes | Contract plus unencumbered land value tested against the cap |
| Owner-built home | Yes | Amount keyed to the date foundations were laid |
| Established home | No | The QRO states plainly there are no grants for established homes |
Two traps hide inside that table. A kitchen remodel and new carpet is a cosmetic renovation, not a substantial one, and most of the building must have been removed or replaced before the QRO treats the home as new. And a house-and-land package structured as a land contract plus a separate building contract is a contract-to-build transaction, which changes both the property test and how the value cap is measured.
Why The Rule Bites Here
Burpengary East is exactly the sort of suburb where the grant's new-home-only rule reshapes a buyer's search, and the local numbers explain why.
The Stock Is Mostly Established
Roughly ninety-two per cent of the suburb's 3,355 dwellings are separate houses and only about half a per cent are flats, so the market a buyer walks into is overwhelmingly established housing that the grant does not touch. The homes that photograph well in Burpengary East, the four-plus bedroom family houses that make up about sixty-one per cent of local stock, are almost all second-hand for grant purposes.
Where Eligible Stock Actually Sits
The eligible stock is the newer release estates and the infill builds, and construction here has been running hot: 995 dwellings were approved over the last five years, placing the suburb in the top few per cent of the state for building activity. That pipeline is where grant-eligible homes come from, and it keeps producing new stock at prices a first buyer can reach.
The Gap Between Eligible And Desirable
Here is the friction. The established family homes buyers actually want sit outside the scheme entirely, while the eligible new stock concentrates in specific estates and specific builders. Buyers end up weighing a $30,000 grant against a second-hand home they prefer, and neither choice is wrong, but the trade-off should be made with the numbers written down, not on instinct.
What It Means For Your Search
If the grant is central to your deposit, hunt where new contracts are being signed and keep every contract under the cap including variations. Pair the search with a first home buyer loan structured around the payment timing, because the grant does not always arrive when you expect it to.
How It Stacks With Duty Relief
Most buyers miss that the grant and the transfer duty concession are two separate schemes with different rules, and both can land on the same purchase. The interaction points, from the QRO duty concession page, are:
Two schemes, one purchase
The duty concession covers established homes too
No duty up to $700,000
A reduced band above that
Occupancy rules differ
Renting a room is possible
Because the two schemes measure value differently, a purchase can qualify for one and not the other, which is why the arithmetic belongs in the same file as your deposit calculation.
How it works
How To Apply And When Money Arrives
Timing is the part of the grant that catches buyers out most, because the payment lands at different points depending on how and where you apply.
- 1
Apply Through An Approved Agent
Lodging through a bank or lender approved by the QRO is the fastest route, and for a straightforward purchase the grant is generally paid at settlement, which means it can genuinely form part of your deposit rather than a later refund.
- 2
Apply Directly To The QRO
Applying straight to the Queensland Revenue Office means the grant is not paid until the home is complete and every supporting document has been supplied, so on a purchase it arrives after settlement rather than at it, which changes what your lender will count upfront.
- 3
Building Contracts And Owner-Builders
For a contract to build or an owner-built home, the grant is paid after completion, on presentation of the final inspection certificate or certificate of occupancy, and for a construction loan that timing should be built into your drawdown expectations from day one.
- 4
The Deadline To Lodge
You have one year from taking possession and title registration for a purchase, or one year from completion for a build, but nobody should leave it that late, because the paperwork is easier to gather while the transaction is fresh.
Worth knowing early
What Gets An Application Knocked Back
The QRO's own guidance points to the same handful of failures repeating, and every one of them is avoidable with a careful read of the eligibility rules before you sign:
- Buying established and assuming it qualifies The single most common mistake, and the most expensive, because nothing salvages a grant on a second-hand home.
- Landing exactly on or over $750,000 The cutoff is hard, the grant is not reduced, it is refused, and a contract variation added late in negotiations is enough to cross the line.
- Splitting a house-and-land package incorrectly Land contract plus separate building contract is a contract-to-build transaction, and the value test then includes the land at the contract date.
- Land that has risen in value A block bought years earlier at a low price can still push a combined build value over the cap when measured at today's unencumbered value.
- A non-comprehensive building contract If items like benchtops or electrical are excluded from the contract, it fails the contract-to-build test outright.
- Occupancy failures Moving in later than one year after completion, or leaving before six continuous months, both put the grant at clawback.
- A spouse's prior ownership Prior residential property ownership anywhere in Australia by the applicant or their spouse disqualifies the application, even if the applicant has never owned anything.
- Wrong applicant structure Companies and trusts cannot apply, so a first purchase held in a family trust forfeits the grant entirely.
If a guarantor is helping bridge your deposit gap, note that guarantee structures and the grant interact through your lender's policy rather than the QRO rules, and a guarantor should get independent legal and financial advice before signing anything, because the risk to their property is real.
Where we work
Areas We Service
Your Mortgage Broker Burpengary East(/) is based in Burpengary East and arranges home loans across the northern Moreton Bay corridor for first home buyers, refinancers and builders, including Beachmere, Deception Bay, Burpengary and Morayfield, alongside the full range of loan services for this suburb.
Questions answered
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the QLD First Home Owner Grant worth?
Eligible contracts signed on or after 20 November 2023 attract $30,000, per the Queensland Revenue Office. Contracts signed before that date received $15,000, which is why the older figure still circulates online.
Can I get the grant on an established home?
No. The Queensland Revenue Office states plainly that there are no home owner grants for established homes, at any price. An established purchase can still attract the separate first home transfer duty concession.
What is the property price cap for the grant?
The home and land together must be valued under $750,000, including any contract variations. At $750,000 or more the grant is refused outright rather than reduced, and for a build the land value counts too.
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, with discretion only in exceptional circumstances. Renting part of the home is possible under the duty concession rules.
Is the grant different from stamp duty relief?
Yes, they are separate schemes. The grant is $30,000 and new homes only, while the transfer duty concession covers established or new homes, with no duty payable up to $700,000. Both can apply to one purchase.
How long does the grant take to arrive?
Applying through an approved agent such as your lender is the fastest route, generally paid at settlement for a purchase. Applying directly to the Queensland Revenue Office means waiting until the home is complete and all documents are supplied.
Mortgage broker for Burpengary East and the suburbs around it
Get In Touch
If you are weighing the grant against an established purchase, or working out whether a $30,000 payment changes what you can afford, call (07) 3523 7109 and speak to a broker who holds the published process and credentials behind every claim on this page, and compares a panel of lenders rather than one bank's product list.