The $10,000 grant: new homes only
The NSW First Home Owner (New Home) Grant is a flat $10,000 payment, and the word "new" does the heavy lifting. You qualify only if the home has never been lived in or sold as a residence:
| Purchase type | Price cap | Grant |
|---|---|---|
| Newly built home (house, townhouse, apartment) | Under $600,000 | $10,000 |
| Vacant land + building contract | Under $750,000 combined | $10,000 |
| Established home | — | Nil |
A substantially renovated home can count as new in limited cases. The grant is per transaction, not per buyer — a couple buying together receives one $10,000 payment, usually applied through the lender at settlement.
The bigger benefit is the stamp duty exemption
The grant gets the headlines, but the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme is worth more for most buyers: zero duty on any home (new or established) up to $800,000 and a sliding-scale concession to $1,000,000. On a $780,000 purchase that alone saves about $29,300 — nearly three times the grant. The two schemes stack: buy a new home under $600,000 and you collect both. Full details on our NSW stamp duty calculator.
Eligibility in brief
You (and anyone buying with you) must be 18 or over, an individual rather than a company or trust, and never have owned residential property in Australia. At least one buyer must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident, and at least one must move in within 12 months and live there for six continuous months. Miss the residence requirement and Revenue NSW can claw the grant back.
Worked example
A first home buyer signs a contract on a $580,000 newly built townhouse. The grant pays $10,000. Standard duty would be about $20,287, but under $800,000 first home buyers pay nothing. Package: $30,287. The same buyer choosing a $580,000 established house keeps the duty exemption but loses the grant — which is why some buyers deliberately hunt off-the-plan under $600,000.