First Home Buyer Declaration Forms: Broker Evidence Guide

A first home buyer declaration form records the facts required by a particular lender, guarantee scheme or revenue authority. Select the form for that purpose, reconcile the answers with evidence and follow its own signing and lodgement instructions.

For a broker, the first task is identifying who requested the declaration. A grant application, a loan declaration and a duty-concession claim can concern the same purchase while requiring different forms.

Identify the Declaration Owner

Identify the organisation responsible for the declaration before sending a form to your client. Record the benefit or loan requirement it supports, the property jurisdiction and the transaction type.

Purpose	Form owner or responsible organisation	What the form supports
Lender requirement	The selected lender	Its home-loan application and evidence requirements
Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme	Housing Australia, through a participating lender	A guarantee application separate from the loan application
First Home Owner Grant	The revenue authority for the purchase state or territory	A grant claim under that jurisdiction’s legislation
First-home duty relief	The relevant revenue authority	An exemption, concession or reduced duty assessment
Another assistance programme	The authority named in its instructions	Only that programme’s specified application

Match the names of all applicants with the ownership proposed in the contract. Identify whether the transaction is an established-home purchase, a new-home purchase, a building contract or an owner-builder project. A form for one transaction type doesn’t establish eligibility for another.

Keep separate records when several benefits apply. The first-home buyer loan guide covers the broader mortgage journey. This procedure covers the declarations and evidence for the selected application.

Use the Current Official Form

Obtain the form through the responsible authority’s current application page, then compare its title and revision details with the transaction. A year in a search result or downloaded filename isn’t enough to establish currency.

1. Open the authority’s application page. For a grant, use the official First Home Owner Grant directory and select the purchase state or territory.
2. Identify the current application route. Read whether the client applies online, uses an approved financial institution or submits a paper application.
3. Record the exact form title and reference. Note its revision or issue date and the transaction dates it covers. For an online application, retain the submission date and any displayed version details.
4. Download the form from that page. Compare it with any saved copy before carrying across client details. Keep the accompanying instructions with it.

The following official routes show why a first home buyers grant application form can’t be replaced with a national guarantee declaration. These are the forms and routes displayed as at October 2026.

Application	Current official form or destination	Lodgement route
New South Wales grant	First Home Owner Grant (New Homes) application page links OFH 002, July 2023, for contracts on or after 1 July 2023. OFH 001 covers the earlier period specified there.	Use an approved agent when the grant is needed for settlement or the first drawdown. Direct applications after purchase or construction use the customer portal.
Victorian grant	First Home Owner Grant PDF application form, FHOG-Form-02, currently links a July 2025 form.	The approved agent handles its application. Direct applicants use the online route after completion. Conveyancers and other third parties use the PDF route.
Western Australian grant or first home owner rate pre-approval	RevenueWA’s current application page provides F-FHOG1 and its current download.	The online portal must be submitted by an applicant. Approved agents can lodge for their borrowers. Paper applications go by web enquiry or mail.
National guarantee	5% Deposit Scheme tools and resources links the Home Buyer Declaration. The declaration is dated 1 July 2026, for financial year 2026-27.	Complete the declaration for the participating lender handling the guarantee application.

A first home buyer declaration form saved in 2025 can remain the correct edition, as the Victorian download illustrates. Conversely, a URL containing 2025 can now return a 2026 document. Read the actual document and the authority’s current instructions before using it.

Reconcile the Applicant’s Answers

Compare each factual answer with the client records before arranging signing. Use the definitions in the selected form, because previous ownership and relationship questions don’t have one universal test.

Fact to reconcile	Evidence or record to compare	Issue to resolve before signing
Identity and previous names	Identity documents and evidence of name changes	A different name in the contract or declaration
Prior ownership	Client ownership history, title records and relevant acquisition or disposal dates	An inherited share, joint ownership or property the client never lived in
Prior assistance	Previous grant correspondence and repayment records	Assistance received in another jurisdiction
Spouse or partner	Relationship details and relevant marriage, separation or divorce records	A partner omitted because they won’t own the new property
Citizenship or residency	Citizenship documents, passport and residency evidence required by the authority	Status assumed from the client’s current address
Intended occupancy	Proposed move-in date and existing housing commitments	A lease or relocation that conflicts with the declaration
Property and transaction	Signed contract, title details, building documents and completion records	Different property details, contract dates or transaction types

Treat an uncertain fact as an unresolved question, not permission to select the answer that preserves the benefit. Ask the client for the missing record. If the form’s legal definition remains unclear, obtain the authority’s explanation or refer the client for legal advice before signing.

Consider a hypothetical client who says they’ve never bought a home, but mentions inheriting a residential property share. Record that interest and its dates for assessment under the selected form. Don’t translate ‘never bought’ into ‘never owned’.

The same discipline applies to occupancy. Record what the client actually intends and compare that plan with the selected programme’s residence requirements. Don’t promise a move-in date the client can’t meet.

Complete, Witness and Lodge It

Complete the form only after its factual answers match the evidence and the client understands the declaration. Then follow the selected form’s signing requirements without borrowing witness rules from another programme.

1. Complete the required sections and attachments. Include non-applicant partner details where instructed, and reconcile every attachment with the declaration.
2. Arrange the prescribed signing process. Identify who must sign, who can witness and any restrictions on the witness. Don’t assume a broker qualification satisfies a witness category.
3. Prepare identity documents in the required format. Check whether copies must be certified and whether the receiving channel accepts scanned documents.
4. Lodge through the specified channel. Record the recipient, submission date and reference. Confirm that the channel shows a submitted application, rather than an unfinished saved form.

The national Home Buyer Declaration dated 1 July 2026 requires a separate form for each applicant. Joint applicants can’t witness each other’s declaration. Its execution instructions identify authorised witnesses under the Commonwealth Statutory Declarations Act 1959.

The current Victorian paper form has different witness restrictions. Its witness must be neither an applicant nor an applicant’s spouse or partner, and mustn’t be related to either. Read its applicant and partner declaration sections separately.

Identity certification also differs by purpose. Revenue NSW’s identity guidance, updated 27 May 2026, requires certified copies for its duty-assistance application. Its grant application doesn’t require certified copies.

Retain the exact lodged declaration, its attachments and submission receipt in the broker file. Keep the authority’s response and any later correction alongside them.

This record shows what was submitted. It doesn’t make the broker the decision-maker on legal eligibility.

For a separate request involving general home-loan declarations, use the statutory declaration evidence guide. Don’t substitute general sample wording for the official first-home form.

Correct an Error or Changed Fact

Notify the organisation handling the application when a declaration is wrong or circumstances change. Identify the affected answer and application reference, explain the change and use its current correction or contact route.

Before lodgement, pause signing if the draft is inconsistent. Replace or correct it using the form’s instructions, then have the client review the complete version again. Where a declaration has already been signed, obtain instructions before altering it or arranging a replacement.

After lodgement, preserve the submitted version. Send the receiving authority or approved agent the corrected facts and supporting records. Ask it to identify the required amendment or withdrawal process, then retain the response and replacement submission.

For the national scheme, the 1 July 2026 declaration directs applicants to notify their participating lender before a change that affects eligibility. A changed occupancy plan belongs with that lender, which handles the guarantee application.

For a Victorian grant, the current form requires written notification of a notifiable event within 14 days. The Victorian application page directs applicants to contact the authority immediately if they can’t meet the residence requirement.

For RevenueWA, the current application page links its contact route for reviewing and updating personal information. Use the first-home grant enquiry route for a grant question or changed circumstances requiring instructions.

Refer the applicant to the authority for programme interpretation. Involve their conveyancer or lawyer when ownership interests, separation or a signed legal declaration need advice. Finish the correction by confirming the recipient has received it and retaining its instructions about the application’s next step.