First Home Buyers Grant SA: Rules and Evidence

The First Home Owner Grant in South Australia pays up to $15,000 to eligible buyers purchasing or building a new home to live in. RevenueSA administers the grant, and applications remain available as at 3 October 2026. For a broker, the assessment starts with the transaction date, the property route and every applicant’s ownership history.

A buyer who previously owned an investment property can fail the current rules even if they never lived there. Keep the grant assessment separate from the lender’s loan decision and the date money must be available.

Establish the Live SA Rules

Use RevenueSA’s current First Home Owner Grant rules for a South Australian purchase, including a purchase in Adelaide. Buyers also call it the First Home Buyers Grant SA or the first home owners grant. Those names describe the same grant, rather than separate payments.

RevenueSA’s grant overview confirms the current maximum of $15,000. A $50,000 grant figure does not match this programme. Only one grant is paid for each eligible transaction, even when several people apply.

The grant cannot exceed the money paid for the purchase or construction. A gifted or won home with no payment is ineligible. RevenueSA’s grant details explain that limitation and the payment process.

The value cap depends on when the eligible transaction starts. RevenueSA’s Information Circular 107, issued 7 June 2024, sets these boundaries.

Eligible transaction starts	Property value cap	Date to use
On or after 6 June 2024	None	Purchase or comprehensive building contract date, or owner-builder commencement
15 June 2023 to 5 June 2024	$650,000	The same transaction commencement rule
17 September 2010 to 14 June 2023	$575,000	The same transaction commencement rule

For an owner builder, commencement generally means laying the foundations, with the circular identifying the concrete slab date. The Commissioner can recognise another appropriate date. Buying vacant land earlier does not itself set the building transaction’s commencement date.

RevenueSA’s historical grants table shows a $15,000 new-home grant in 2016. The amount alone therefore does not identify the applicable rules. The old $575,000 cap and former ownership tests must not be carried into a new application.

The table also shows the established-home grant ended for transactions starting from 1 July 2014. Older bonus, boost and housing-construction payments listed there are historical programmes. A 2025 or 2026 assessment must use the current transaction rules, not a historical combined-benefits total.

Classify the Property Route

Classify the home by its construction and occupation history before matching the transaction documents. RevenueSA’s eligible-property rules, as at October 2026, distinguish these routes.

Route	Property test	Fact to establish in the file
Completed new home	Previously unoccupied and not previously sold as a residence	Vendor confirmation and signed purchase contract
Off-the-plan apartment	Construction is unfinished under RevenueSA’s definition	Contract, completion date and developer’s occupancy certificate
Substantially renovated home	Developer’s substantial renovations meet the grant test	Evidence of renovations and the developer’s tax treatment
Contract to build	Builder constructs the home on land	Signed building contract and foundations progress invoice
Owner builder	Builds an eligible fixed dwelling without a comprehensive building contract	Construction costs and declaration that the home is complete

An ordinary established home is ineligible, even when it is the buyer’s first home. Vacant land alone is also ineligible. A later eligible building transaction on that land can qualify when the applicant tests are met.

A substantially renovated home requires more than cosmetic work. RevenueSA requires a developer registered for goods and services tax (GST), evidence of claimed GST offsets and a qualifying renovation.

For contracts entered into on or after 13 February 2025, RevenueSA says a knock-down rebuild fails the previous-ownership test. Earlier contracts can qualify if all their applicable conditions are met. Record that date before treating a replacement dwelling as an ordinary new-home purchase.

An investment-only or holiday home fails the intended residence test. For a property that will become the applicant’s main home, record the planned move-in date and apply the residence timetable below.

Verify Every Applicant

Assess everyone who will hold a relevant interest in the home, and include each applicant’s spouse or domestic partner’s circumstances. A partner’s details are required even when the partner will not own the property. RevenueSA’s applicant rules, as at October 2026, set the personal and ownership tests.

Each applicant must be a natural person and at least 18 when applying. At least one must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident. A New Zealand citizen permanently residing in Australia with a Special Category visa also meets that status requirement.

Applicants must be living in Australia. The grant is not means tested.

Companies and trusts generally fail the natural-person rule, with a specific exception for legal disability. Refer that exception to RevenueSA before choosing an application structure.

For contracts entered into on or after 13 February 2025, Australian residential ownership by an applicant or their spouse or domestic partner makes them ineligible. That includes past ownership and an investment property they never occupied.

For earlier contracts, an Australian residential property acquired on or after 1 July 2000 can allow eligibility where occupation was less than six months. Ownership acquired before 1 July 2000 disqualifies the person regardless of occupation.

For divorced or separated applicants, RevenueSA excludes a former partner’s residential ownership when supported by the required divorce or separation evidence.

Overseas residential ownership and ownership of vacant land do not affect eligibility. A previous Australian grant generally prevents another grant. RevenueSA recognises possible reapplication after the grant and any penalty have been repaid.

For an inherited share, disputed ownership interest or uncertain relationship history, obtain RevenueSA’s answer using the relevant records. Contact RevenueSA’s grant team on (08) 8372 7534 or at fhog.support@sa.gov.au. Keep the response with the file instead of treating the client’s recollection as an eligibility decision.

All applicants must live in the home for six continuous months, starting within 12 months of the relevant completion event. Purchases use settlement as the completion event. Building contracts and owner builders use the date the home becomes ready for occupation.

RevenueSA’s residence requirement allows exemptions in exceptional circumstances, assessed individually. A changed circumstance that prevents compliance must be reported in writing within 14 days. Repayment and penalties can follow a failure to meet the conditions.

Assemble the Application Record

Choose the application channel before assembling the evidence, because the channel changes identity requirements and the earliest possible payment. RevenueSA’s application instructions, as at October 2026, allow lodgement from transaction commencement. The application must be made within 12 months of completion.

1. If the grant must fund settlement or the first progress payment, lodge through an approved agent. The financial institution providing the loan usually handles this. If lodgement through that institution is unavailable, use RevenueSA’s linked South Australian online application. Direct lodgement cannot provide the approved-agent payment route for settlement or the first progress payment.
2. Gather identity and relationship evidence for applicants and partners. For Australian citizens, an approved agent accepts an Australian passport or birth certificate among its listed options. A current passport is required for New Zealand citizens. For other citizens, the agent also needs permanent-residence evidence with the current passport. Direct applications also list Australian driver’s licences and Medicare cards as identity options. Match changed names with certificates, and include marriage, divorce or separation evidence where applicable.
3. Prepare the evidence for the property route. A new-home purchase needs the signed contract and vendor statement. An off-the-plan apartment needs its occupancy certificate. Direct purchase applications also need settlement and registration evidence. A building contract needs the signed contract and first foundations invoice. Owner builders need major cost receipts and a completion statutory declaration, excluding their own labour costs.
4. Complete the declarations and submit the application. For direct online lodgement, upload supporting documents after the acknowledgement. Assessment begins when all required evidence has been provided. Retain the application reference and submission date, then add the decision and any request for more evidence. For a direct application, supply the nominated account details. An approved agent records those separately.
5. Record payment and occupancy independently. Keep the expected payment event beside its confirmation, then diary each applicant’s move-in date and six-month residence period.

RevenueSA’s supporting-document list provides the channel-specific identity options and transaction requirements. Most documents can be legible uncertified copies. Related-party transactions also need evidence that the applicant paid the purchase or construction amount.

The earliest approved-agent payment events are settlement for a new home or off-the-plan apartment, and the first progress payment for a building contract. Owner-builder payment requires the completed-home evidence. Direct RevenueSA payment can occur within five days after approval, according to its grant details page.

Approval and complete evidence determine whether those timings are achievable. A lender’s loan approval does not establish grant approval or confirm that the grant will arrive for settlement. If the grant remains unconfirmed, identify how the purchase will be funded before treating it as available money.

Keep utility accounts, bank statements or household contents insurance as occupancy evidence. These support the residence period if RevenueSA asks for proof. The application record remains useful after payment because the residence obligation continues.

Hypothetical file check: a buyer contracts for an unoccupied new home in October 2026 and has never owned Australian residential property. Their partner previously owned an Australian investment unit. The current ownership test fails even though the property route and absence of a value cap fit.

For other South Australian financing routes, use the HomeStart loans guide. For a property elsewhere, use the state-by-state First Home Owner Grant guide. Before the purchase relies on this grant, the file must show the applicable transaction date, all applicants’ and partners’ histories, a recorded grant decision and confirmed payment timing.