QLD first home buyers
QLD First Home Owner Grant
The First Home Owner Grant is a Queensland government payment for eligible first home buyers who purchase or build a new home. It is administered by the Queensland Revenue Office and paid on top of any transfer duty relief the purchase qualifies for.
Your Mortgage Broker Springfield is a mortgage broking business serving Springfield and the surrounding Ipswich corridor, and this page sets out what the grant pays, who qualifies, which properties it covers and how it interacts with duty relief. Figures link to the Queensland Revenue Office so you can verify each one.
What It Is Worth Right Now
The payment currently on offer is announced at $30,000 for contracts signed on or after 20 November 2023, which is double the $15,000 that applied before that date. The older figure still circulates on comparison sites and forum posts years after the change, so treat any page quoting $15,000 as the current amount with suspicion. The Queensland Revenue Office landing page references the 2026 State Budget and states no change to either the amount or the cap, so the doubled figure remains the one to plan around. Owner-builders receive the same amounts, keyed to when the foundations were laid.
Who Qualifies
The eligibility tests are set by the Queensland Revenue Office and apply to the applicants rather than the property, which is a separate question covered below. The core tests are:
Age and applicant type
Citizenship or residency
No prior ownership
Occupancy commitment
Joint applications
The value cap
Which Properties It Covers
The property tests are where most Springfield buyers come unstuck, because the grant is deliberately aimed at new stock rather than the established homes that dominate the local market. This table summarises the eligibility page:
| Property type | Eligible? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| New home, never occupied | Yes | House, unit, duplex or townhouse |
| Substantially renovated by the seller | Yes, limited | Cosmetic work like a new kitchen does not count |
| Off-the-plan purchase | Yes | Treated as a new home |
| Contract to build | Yes | Must be a comprehensive home building contract |
| Owner-builder | Yes | $30,000 where foundations were laid on or after 20 November 2023 |
| Established home | No | The QRO is blunt: there are no home owner grants for established homes |
The substantial renovation test catches people regularly. Most of the building must have been removed or replaced, so a re-carpeted, re-kitchened former rental is still an established home in the Commissioner's eyes.
Why The Rule Bites Here
The grant only pays on new stock, and where new stock actually sits in and around Springfield shapes whether the payment is a realistic part of your plan or a nice idea attached to houses you cannot reach. This is a local question, not a statewide one, and it is worth answering before you fall in love with the wrong property.
Where Eligible Stock Sits
Springfield and its immediate neighbours sit inside one of the state's more active building corridors, with 326 dwelling approvals across the last five years and building activity at the 77th state percentile. New estates through Springfield Lakes and Bellbird Park generate exactly the kind of never-occupied stock the grant targets, which makes those suburbs the natural first stop for grant-funded buyers.
The Established Stock Problem
The established family homes that dominate this suburb, 86.8 per cent of dwellings being separate houses and two thirds offering four or more bedrooms, attract no grant at any price. A buyer who wants an established four bedroom home on a quiet street is choosing between the grant and the property they actually want, and pretending otherwise wastes months.
The Price Cap Squeeze
Whether a property clears the value test depends on where it sits. New house and land packages in the newer estates are commonly priced under the cap, while established homes in the premium pockets such as Brookwater frequently exceed it. Because the cap is a hard cutoff, a contract at or above the line is refused outright, not reduced.
What This Means For Your Search
With a median household income around $2,176 a week and a median repayment near $1,733 a month, local buyers carry real borrowing capacity, so the constraint is usually the grant rules rather than serviceability. Structure the search around new or near-new stock under the cap first, then decide whether an established home is worth forfeiting both the grant and a large slice of the duty relief.
How It Stacks With Duty Relief
The grant and the first home transfer duty concession are separate schemes with separate tests, and stacking them correctly is where the real money sits on a first purchase. The interactions worth knowing:
New home under the cap
No duty at all under $700,000
The reduced band
Established homes still qualify for duty relief
Renting part of the home
The residency test is stricter
A citizenship change from 1 August 2026
How it works
How To Apply And When Money Arrives
The application route you choose changes when the money lands, sometimes by months, and on a construction timeline that difference matters. The application page sets out the mechanics, which come down to four questions.
- 1
Lodging Through A Lender
Applying through an approved agent, meaning a bank or lender, is the fastest route because the payment is made at the stage the agent lodges for, generally settlement on a purchase. If your lender participates, this is almost always the better path, and it is worth confirming before you commit to a finance application.
- 2
Applying Directly To QRO
Lodging directly with the Queensland Revenue Office suits buyers whose lender is not an approved agent, but the payment does not arrive until the home is complete and every supporting document has been supplied. On a purchase that means waiting out the entire build before seeing the money.
- 3
Building Contracts And Timing
For a contract to build or an owner-builder project, the grant is paid after completion, on presentation of the final inspection certificate or certificate of occupancy. Budget for the grant arriving at the end of the build rather than the start, because it cannot fund your deposit.
- 4
The Deadline To Lodge
You have one year to apply: from taking possession and title registration on a purchase, or from completion on a build. Missing it forfeits the payment entirely, so diary the date the day you settle rather than trusting your memory a year later.
Worth knowing early
What Gets An Application Knocked Back
The knock-back list is predictable, which is the good news, because every item on it can be checked before you sign anything. The Queensland Revenue Office refuses applications where:
- The home is established Buying an established home and assuming it qualifies is the single most common mistake, and there is no appeal against the property type rule.
- The value hits the cap At $750,000 or above the grant is refused outright, and land that has risen in value since purchase can push a planned build over the line.
- The structure is split A house and land package written as a land contract plus a separate building contract is a contract-to-build transaction, so the value test includes the land from the outset.
- The build contract is incomplete A non-comprehensive building contract, one that excludes benchtops or electrical work, fails the contract-to-build test and takes the application with it.
- The occupancy rule breaks Moving in more than a year after completion, or leaving before six continuous months, forfeits the grant.
- A prior property exists Prior residential ownership by you or your spouse anywhere in Australia, on or after 1 July 2000, disqualifies the application no matter how long ago it was.
- The applicant is not a person Applying as a company or trust is refused, so the ownership structure needs checking before the contract is signed.
Where we work
Areas We Service
Your Mortgage Broker Springfield works with first home buyers across the Ipswich corridor, and the grant conversation is different in each suburb depending on what stock sits under the cap. We serve borrowers in Springfield, Camira, Greenbank, Springfield Lakes, Springfield Central, Brookwater and Bellbird Park.
Questions answered
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the QLD First Home Owner Grant worth?
Eligible buyers who signed a contract on or after 20 November 2023 receive $30,000. Contracts signed before that date attract the earlier $15,000 amount, which still appears on some outdated pages.
Can I get the grant on an established home?
No. The Queensland Revenue Office states there are no home owner grants for established homes. Only new homes that have never been occupied, or substantially renovated properties, qualify for the payment.
What is the property price cap for the grant?
The home and land together must be valued at less than $750,000, including any contract variations. At $750,000 or above the grant is refused outright rather than reduced.
Do I have to live in the property to keep the grant?
Yes. You must move in within one year of completion and live there continuously for six months. The Commissioner can only waive this in exceptional circumstances.
Is the grant different from stamp duty relief?
Yes, they are separate schemes. The grant applies to new homes only, while the first home duty concession covers established homes too, with no duty payable on homes valued at $700,000 or under.
How long does the grant take to arrive?
Applying through an approved agent such as a bank or lender is the fastest route, generally paid at settlement. Applying directly to the Queensland Revenue Office means waiting until the home is complete.
Mortgage broker for Springfield and the suburbs around it
Get In Touch
If you are weighing a new build against an established home and want to know what the grant and duty relief are actually worth on your own numbers, talk it through before you sign anything. More detail on the lending side sits on our first home buyer loans and About pages, and a named broker will give you a straight answer on eligibility and structure. Call (07) 3523 7116 today. We operate under an Australian Credit Licence, publish our fee structure, and are AFCA members.