QLD first home buyers
QLD First Home Owner Grant
The Queensland First Home Owner Grant is a one-off payment of $30,000 from the state government to eligible first home buyers who buy or build a new home in Queensland. It is paid through the Queensland Revenue Office and never applies to established homes.
This page sets out what the grant pays, who qualifies, which properties it covers and how it stacks with duty relief, using figures sourced from the Queensland Revenue Office. Your Mortgage Broker Rural View(/) works with first home buyers across the Mackay Region and can help you plan the lending side around it.
What It Is Worth Right Now
The surprising number is how quietly it doubled. Contracts signed on or after 20 November 2023 attract $30,000, double the $15,000 that applied beforehand, and the Queensland Revenue Office landing page confirms no change following the 23 June 2026 State Budget. Yet the $15,000 figure still circulates on older articles and forums, which causes buyers to budget short by half the payment. Owner-builders get the same treatment: $30,000 where foundations were laid on or after 20 November 2023, $15,000 beforehand. The amount you actually receive depends entirely on when your contract was signed, not when you applied or settled.
Who Qualifies
Eligibility is tested on you as a person, your history of property ownership and the contract itself, and every element must be satisfied before the Queensland Revenue Office pays anything:
Age and person status
Citizenship or residency
No prior property ownership
A qualifying property
Under the value cap
Occupancy commitment
Which Properties It Covers
The property test is where most assumptions break, so check the structure of your purchase against the published eligibility rules before you commit:
| Property structure | Grant eligible? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Newly built house, unit, duplex or townhouse | Yes | Never previously occupied or sold as a residence |
| Substantially renovated home | Sometimes | Completed by the seller in limited circumstances; cosmetic work does not count |
| Off-the-plan purchase | Yes | Treated as a new home under the eligibility rules |
| Comprehensive contract to build | Yes | Value tested as contract plus unencumbered land value at contract date |
| Owner-builder construction | Yes | Paid against foundations laid on or after 20 November 2023 at $30,000 |
| Established home | No | The Revenue Office states there are no grants for established homes at any price |
Why The Rule Bites Here
The grant is worth the most where new stock exists, and Rural View is one of the Mackay Region's genuine new-build pockets: 383 dwellings were approved here over the last five years, and building activity ranks in the state's 79th percentile.
The Cap Versus Local Prices
The $750,000 cap tests the home and land together, and a four-bedroom house on a good block in a newer estate can push past it once site costs and variations are added. Buyers here dominate the four-plus-bedroom segment, with 66.4 per cent of local dwellings that size, so contract value needs watching before anything is signed.
Where Eligible Stock Actually Sits
Because 95.7 per cent of dwellings here are separate houses and apartments barely register at 0.2 per cent, eligible new stock is overwhelmingly house-and-land or contract-to-build product in the newer estates. That changes the value test: a land contract plus a separate building contract is assessed as a contract-to-build transaction, with the land's value added in.
The Gap Between Eligible And Desirable
An eligible new home is not automatically the home you want. Established streets closer to the water fall outside the grant entirely, so first buyers here face a real choice between a $30,000 payment on a new estate block and a larger deposit for established stock nearby.
What That Means For Your Search
Practically, your search splits in two: contract structure and total value decide grant eligibility before location or floor plan enter the conversation. Run the combined figure, including variations, against the $750,000 line before you pay any deposit, because at the cap the grant is refused, not reduced.
How It Stacks With Duty Relief
This is the part national articles routinely get wrong: the grant and the first home transfer duty concession are separate schemes with separate tests, and they can stack on the same purchase.
Different property tests
No duty at all under $700,000
A reduced band above that
A new home under the cap can get both
Separate residency rules
Renting part of the home is possible
Citizenship tightened in 2026
How it works
How To Apply And When Money Arrives
Payment timing depends on where you lodge the application, and the difference can be months of waiting on a build. The Revenue Office application page sets out both routes in detail.
- 1
Through An Approved Agent
Applying through your bank or lender, which are approved agents, is the fastest route. For a purchase the grant is generally paid at settlement, which means it can contribute to your funds on the day rather than arriving months later.
- 2
Directly To The Revenue Office
Applying directly to the Queensland Revenue Office, whether buying or building, means no payment until the home is complete and all supporting documents are supplied. On a long build that delay deserves a place in your cash flow planning.
- 3
Building Contracts And Owner-Builders
For a contract to build or an owner-builder project, the grant is paid after completion, against the final inspection certificate or certificate of occupancy. The money arrives at the end of the project, not the start.
- 4
The Deadline
Applications must be lodged within one year of taking possession and title registration for a purchase, or within one year of completion for a build. Miss it and the payment is lost.
Worth knowing early
What Gets An Application Knocked Back
Most declined applications are avoidable, and the pattern in the refused files is almost always a contract structure or a fact that was knowable before signing:
- Buying established The most common refusal is assuming a resale house qualifies. It does not, at any price.
- Sitting at or over the cap At $750,000 or more, including variations, the grant is refused outright rather than reduced.
- The wrong contract structure A house-and-land package split into a land contract plus a separate building contract is a contract-to-build transaction, so the land's value counts toward the cap.
- Rising land values Land bought years earlier that has appreciated can push a build past the $750,000 line even though the house itself is modest.
- A non-comprehensive building contract If items such as benchtops or electrical work are excluded, the contract fails the contract-to-build test entirely.
- The renovation test A kitchen remodel or re-carpeting is not a substantial renovation; most of the building must have been removed or replaced.
- Occupancy breaches Moving in later than one year after completion, or leaving before six continuous months, jeopardises the payment.
- Prior ownership Residential property ownership by you or your spouse anywhere in Australia on or after 1 July 2000 disqualifies the application.
- Applying as a company or trust Only natural people aged 18 or over can apply.
Where we work
Areas We Service
Your Mortgage Broker Rural View assists first home buyers and borrowers throughout the Mackay northern beaches and the wider Mackay Region, including Bucasia, Eimeo, Blacks Beach, Beaconsfield, Richmond and Nindaroo. If you are weighing the grant against established stock in any of these suburbs, you can read how we work on the About page, then plan the lending structure around your deposit and the payment timing before you sign.
Questions answered
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the QLD First Home Owner Grant worth?
Eligible contracts signed on or after 20 November 2023 receive $30,000. Contracts signed before that date received $15,000, which is why older pages still quote the lower figure.
Can I get the grant on an established home?
No. The Queensland Revenue Office states there are no home owner grants for established homes, at any price. Only new or substantially renovated homes qualify.
What is the property price cap for the grant?
The total value of the home and land, including contract variations, must be less than $750,000. At $750,000 or more the grant is refused outright, not 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, with discretion granted only 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 transfer duty concession can apply to established homes under its own thresholds.
How long does the grant take to arrive?
Applying through an approved lender agent is the fastest route, generally paid at settlement. Applying directly to the Revenue Office means waiting until the home is complete.
Mortgage broker for Rural View and the suburbs around it
Get In Touch
If you are planning a first home purchase or build in Rural View and want the lending arranged around the grant and the duty concession, call (07) 3523 7116 for a conversation with a broker operating under an Australian Credit Licence, at no cost for the initial discussion and with our fee structure published up front.