WA first home buyers
WA First Home Owner Grant
The First Home Owner Grant is a Western Australian government payment of up to $10,000 for eligible first home buyers who buy or build a new residential home, or a substantially renovated one, within the state's value caps.
This page explains who qualifies, which properties the grant covers, how it interacts with transfer duty relief, and what the rules mean for buyers searching around Eglinton. Figures come from RevenueWA and link to the source pages throughout, so you can check every number yourself before you commit to anything.
What It Is Worth Right Now
The payment is a flat up to $10,000, one-off per eligible transaction, and it has stayed at that level while everything around it has moved. What changed recently is the ceiling: for transactions on or after 7 May 2026, the value cap south of the 26th parallel, which includes every Perth suburb, rose to $800,000, up from $750,000 for earlier contracts. Older pages across the internet still quote the old cap and an outdated duty threshold, so check the date on anything you read. The same announcement also removed the old link between the grant cap and the duty concession, which matters more than it first appears, because it means a buyer whose contract price exceeds the grant cap can still receive the separate first home owner rate of duty. Two schemes, two sets of figures, both improved.
Who Qualifies
Eligibility is set by RevenueWA and tested against every applicant named on the contract, so read this list before you fall in love with a floor plan:
New or substantially renovated property
Under the value cap
Age and residency
First-timer status
One grant per transaction
Six-month occupancy
No means test
Which Properties It Covers
The grant and the duty concession overlap but they are not the same scheme, and the fastest way to see the difference is side by side:
| Property type | Grant available? | First home owner rate of duty? |
|---|---|---|
| New home under $600,000 | Yes, the full $10,000 | No duty payable up to $600,000 |
| New home $600,001 to $800,000 | Yes, if under the $800,000 cap | Reduced duty at $16.15 per $100 over $600,000 |
| Established home, any price | No grant at any price | No duty up to $600,000, reduced duty to $800,000 |
| Vacant land to build on | Grant applies to the build contract | No duty up to $450,000, reduced duty to $550,000 |
The table answers the question buyers most often get wrong: an established home earns nothing from the grant scheme at all, yet it still earns full duty relief if you meet the first-buyer criteria, because the duty scheme deliberately covers established homes and land as well as new builds.
Why The Rule Bites Here
Eglinton sits squarely inside the corridor where this grant does its best work, and the local numbers explain why. The suburb recorded 2,694 dwelling approvals across the last five years against a total stock of just 1,237 dwellings, which means the suburb is still mostly ahead of itself: the homes being bought today are overwhelmingly new builds, exactly the property type the grant rewards.
Almost Everything Here Is Eligible Stock
With 99.0 per cent of dwellings being separate houses and 58.8 per cent carrying four or more bedrooms, the local market is almost entirely new family housing. That matters because established homes earn no grant, so in a suburb of new builds nearly every listing and every house-and-land package sits inside the eligible category, provided the contract value clears the cap.
The Cap Is a Real Constraint Here
The grant cap for Perth transactions is now $800,000, and house-and-land packages in the 6034 corridor with four bedrooms, which is what most local buyers want, run close to that line. Larger floor plans and premium upgrades can push a package over, so the contract value, not the marketing display price, is what decides eligibility.
New Supply Keeps Arriving
Eglinton sits at the top of the state for building activity, and 714 dwellings were approved in 2021-22 alone. Steady supply means eligible new stock is not a niche here, it is the market, which gives first buyers genuine choice between builders, estates and stage releases rather than settling for whatever is listed.
What This Means For Your Search
A median household income around $2,024 a week and a median mortgage repayment near $1,950 a month suggest local budgets stretch, but not limitlessly. The practical takeaway: shortlist packages under the cap, hold upgrade options loosely until the contract price is confirmed, and remember an established home nearby forfeits the grant entirely, so compare total cash needed rather than headline prices.
How It Stacks With Duty Relief
The two schemes are separate, they have different figures, and since 7 May 2026 they are no longer linked, so it pays to check both independently:
Different property scope
No duty to $600,000
A concessional band above that
Vacant land has its own bands
The cap link is gone
How it works
How To Apply And When Money Arrives
Applications go through RevenueWA, either lodged online by the applicants or handled by an approved agent, which in practice usually means your lender. The paperwork is not onerous, but the deadlines and the identity rules are enforced strictly, so it is worth understanding the sequence before you sign.
- 1
Lodge Through Your Lender
Most buyers authorise their lender, as an approved agent, to lodge the application alongside the home loan, which bundles the paperwork into settlement and removes a separate submission. If you are building, the same channel handles it, though the timing follows the build contract rather than a purchase date.
- 2
Watch the Twelve-Month Deadline
The application must be lodged within twelve months of the completion date of the eligible transaction, and this is one of the documented knock-back reasons, so diarise it. Missing the deadline forfeits the grant entirely, even where every eligibility criterion is otherwise met, because the time limit is a condition, not a formality.
- 3
Payment Follows Completion
RevenueWA does not publish fixed payment timeframes, so the honest position is that the grant is paid once the eligible transaction completes, with no promised dates either way. For a purchase that means at or shortly after settlement, and for a build it follows the completed transaction, so plan your cash flow without assuming an exact day.
- 4
Keep Your Documents Together
Proof of identity, citizenship or residency status, the contract and evidence of occupancy all matter, and the six-month occupancy rule is checked after the fact. Keep records of when you moved in, because if eligibility is later reviewed, the burden of showing continuous residence for six months within twelve months of completion falls on you.
Worth knowing early
What Gets An Application Knocked Back
RevenueWA publishes the refusal reasons, and nearly all of them are avoidable with a ten-minute check before you sign anything:
- Buying an established home The single most common mistake, assuming the grant applies to an existing dwelling. It does not, at any price, so an established purchase earns duty relief only.
- Contracts over the cap South of the 26th parallel, including all of Perth, a transaction over $800,000 forfeits the grant, so confirm the contract value, including inclusions and variations, before you sign.
- Breaking the occupancy rule Not living in the home for six continuous months, or starting occupation later than twelve months after completion, triggers repayment of the grant where it has already been paid.
- Prior property ownership An applicant who previously received a grant in any jurisdiction, owned property before 1 July 2000, or owned and occupied a home for six or more months on or after 1 July 2004 is ineligible.
- Missing the application window Twelve months from completion is the hard limit for lodgement, and there is no discretion for lateness, so set the reminder the week you sign.
- Confusing the two schemes The grant cap and the duty thresholds are different figures under different rules, and assuming they are one scheme leads buyers to walk away from properties they could have bought with full duty relief.
Where we work
Areas We Service
Your Mortgage Broker Eglinton helps first home buyers understand and claim the grant across Perth's northern coastal corridor, working alongside buyers in Yanchep, Carabooda and Alkimos, where new-build stock similar to Eglinton's dominates the market. If you are weighing the grant against deposit requirements, lender policy or a family guarantee, the first home buyer loans page sets out how the lending side works.
Questions answered
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the WA First Home Owner Grant worth?
The grant pays up to $10,000 as a one-off payment per eligible transaction. If the contract price is lower than that figure, the grant equals the consideration paid instead.
Can I get the grant on an established home?
No. Since October 2015 the grant has been limited to new homes and substantially renovated homes. An established home attracts no grant at any price, though duty relief may still apply.
What is the property price cap for the grant?
South of the 26th parallel, including all of Perth, the cap is $800,000 for transactions on or after 7 May 2026. North of the parallel the cap is $1,000,000.
Do I have to live in the property to keep the grant?
Yes. You must occupy the home as your principal place of residence for at least six continuous months, starting within twelve months of the transaction completing.
Is the grant different from stamp duty relief?
They are separate schemes with different figures. The grant covers new homes only, while the first home owner rate of duty applies to established homes and vacant land as well.
How long does the grant take to arrive?
RevenueWA does not publish fixed payment dates. The grant is paid once the eligible transaction completes, and applications lodged through a lender are usually processed alongside settlement.
Mortgage broker for Eglinton and the suburbs around it
Get In Touch
Questions about how the grant fits your deposit, your loan structure or a specific house-and-land package? Call (08) 6311 4005 to talk it through with a broker who works in this corridor every week. You will get a published fee structure, a clear process and options explained in plain English, with nothing owed until you decide to proceed.