First Home Owners Grant ACT: Status and Other Support

The first home owners grant in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is unavailable for new purchases with commencement dates from 1 July 2019. As at 3 October 2026, Canberra buyers instead have duty concessions and national schemes that can reduce upfront costs. A duty exemption reduces the bill at settlement, while a government guarantee or equity contribution changes how the purchase is financed.

The ACT Grant Position for Your Client’s Contract

The ACT First Home Owner Grant excludes property transactions commencing from 1 July 2019, according to the ACT Revenue Office’s grant page, checked on 3 October 2026. ACT here means the Australian Capital Territory, rather than another state’s First Home Owner Grant Act.

For a purchase, the commencement date is when the parties sign and exchange contracts, not when settlement occurs. For an owner-builder, it is when the foundations start being laid. The date determines whether the old scheme can apply.

A grant approved or paid for an eligible earlier transaction remains governed by that transaction’s rules. The closure to later transactions does not itself cancel an older entitlement. Keep the approval and its conditions on file, including any residence obligation or repayment issue.

If your client has an old contract and an unresolved grant claim, assess it under the historical rules and application timing for that contract. Do not treat the continued presence of the grant page as evidence that a current Canberra purchase earns a grant.

Canberra Home Buyer Concessions

The Home Buyer Concession Scheme removes conveyance duty, commonly called stamp duty, for eligible ACT transactions from 1 July 2026. The main concessions relevant to a first-home purchase are below, under the ACT Revenue Office’s rules checked on 3 October 2026.

Home Buyer Concession Scheme

The Home Buyer Concession Scheme covers new homes, established homes and vacant residential land. For transactions from 1 July 2026, there is no income threshold and eligible buyers receive a full duty exemption.

All buyers must generally be individuals aged at least 18. Buyers and their domestic partners must not have held a legal or equitable property interest anywhere in the previous five years, subject to limited exemptions. At least one buyer must own and live in the home continuously for one year, starting within one year of settlement or the occupancy certificate for vacant land.

Earlier transactions retain their date-specific income and concession rules. A settlement after 1 July 2026 does not move an earlier contract into the new rules.

Off the Plan Unit Duty Exemption

The Off the Plan Unit Duty Exemption covers qualifying unit-titled apartments and townhouses bought off the plan. Contracts exchanged from 1 July 2026 have no property-value limit. The published criteria do not impose an income limit or a first-home ownership test.

Buyers must be individuals, and at least one must own and occupy the home continuously for one year. Occupation must begin within 12 months of settlement. A detached house does not qualify merely because it is newly built.

Newly Unit Titled Duty Exemption

The Newly Unit Titled Duty Exemption applies to qualifying purchases from 1 July 2026 directly from the developer. The completed unit must be ready to occupy and purchased within two years of registration of the units plan. The buyer must be its first occupant.

Buyers must generally be individuals aged at least 18. At least one buyer must own and occupy it continuously for one year, beginning within one year of settlement. The published eligibility list has no income or prior-home ownership limit.

These exemptions reduce duty payable. They do not put a grant into the buyer’s bank account, and two exemptions cannot create two savings against the same duty bill. Use the ACT stamp duty guide for the duty calculation and rules for earlier contracts.

Commonwealth Schemes on a Canberra Purchase

Canberra buyers can use either the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme or Help to Buy alongside an eligible ACT duty concession. Both national schemes have an ACT property price cap of $1,000,000 as at 3 October 2026, but they finance the purchase differently.

National scheme	Deposit and insurance	Ownership and budget effect
Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme	Eligible first-home buyers need at least 5%. Eligible single parents or legal guardians can use the separate 2% route. No lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) applies	The government guarantees part of the loan without taking an equity share. The buyer still supplies the deposit and other purchase costs
Australian Government Help to Buy Scheme	Minimum 2% deposit and no LMI	The government contributes up to 30% for an existing home or 40% for a new home. The contribution reduces the loan needed, and the government shares proportionally in gains or losses

The official 5% Deposit Scheme page confirms there is no income cap. Housing Australia’s scheme information guide lists the ACT cap. The purchase price and property value must meet that cap, including combined land and build costs where relevant.

Help to Buy is available in all states and territories, including the ACT. Its ACT price cap is also $1,000,000. For 2026–27, taxable income limits are $103,000 for an individual and $165,000 for joint applicants or a single parent.

Help to Buy applicants must be Australian citizens, occupy the home and meet its current-property ownership rules. Help to Buy can accompany stamp duty concessions, but cannot be combined with the 5% Deposit Scheme guarantee. Compare the 5% Deposit Scheme rules with the Help to Buy ownership terms before selecting a route.

Neither scheme pays a free cash grant to add to savings. A guarantee removes LMI and can allow a smaller deposit. Shared equity contributes to the price in exchange for a share of the home’s value.

Correct Old Grant Amounts in the Budget

Remove any ACT grant attributed to a new purchase from the funds-to-complete calculation. Ask the client for the article, calculator or approval that supplied the amount. Match its jurisdiction and contract period to the property being purchased.

A historical ACT grant amount or another state’s grant does not fund a new Canberra contract. A property across the border follows that state’s rules, even when the buyer works in Canberra. The first home owner grant guide explains the separate state and territory routes.

In this hypothetical example, an eligible buyer signs an $800,000 established-home contract after 1 July 2026 and uses the 5% Deposit Scheme. The lender’s valuation matches the price, and the buyer meets the ACT duty exemption conditions. Assume other purchase costs and a cash buffer total $6,000.

The buyer needs a $40,000 deposit plus $6,000, for $46,000 in available funds. Duty and LMI are zero under the confirmed concessions and guarantee. If an old grant estimate had reduced that total, remove it and restore the shortfall.

For an otherwise eligible Help to Buy buyer at the same price, a 2% deposit is $16,000. Assuming the full 30% government contribution of $240,000, the remaining loan is $544,000. With the assumed $6,000 costs and buffer, cash needed is $22,000, subject to the scheme’s maximum reasonable deposit requirement.

Treat that as an alternative structure, not an extra benefit added to the guarantee example. Replace assumptions with the client’s approved loan and actual settlement costs before relying on either total.

Evidence for the ACT File

Keep evidence of the concession conditions and the chosen lending route before the client commits to the purchase. The ACT Revenue Office’s claim instructions, checked on 3 October 2026, require a self-assessed claim through the Buyer Verification Declaration before title registration.

Keep the following records with the file.

• The signed contract, exchange date and property details, plus the occupancy certificate for a completed new home where applicable.
• A record of each buyer’s and domestic partner’s property interests and disposal dates, including overseas interests and any exemption evidence.
• The intended move-in date and residence commitment, followed by evidence of actual occupation.
• For a Home Buyer Concession Scheme transaction before 1 July 2026, the prior financial year’s income evidence and applicable dependent-child records.
• For unit exemptions, the units plan, developer details and evidence of the required off-plan or first-occupant status.
• Deposit statements, income and liability evidence for the lender, plus the scheme eligibility documents for the selected national route.

The ACT concession’s income test no longer applies to transactions from 1 July 2026. The lender still needs income evidence to assess repayment capacity, and Help to Buy retains its own income test. Do not confuse these separate assessments.

The ACT claim instructions say supporting documents need not accompany the ordinary declaration, but evidence must remain available for review for at least five years. A self-assessed duty notice does not prove the buyer’s information was independently checked.

Record the scheme name, applicable contract date and duty outcome in your file notes. Add the date checked, the supporting source and the status of any lender or national scheme application. If an application remains pending, show the funding shortfall without that benefit before the client signs.