First Home Buyer Assistance in the ACT: Grants and Concessions

Why the ACT no longer pays a First Home Owner Grant

The Australian Capital Territory stopped paying a First Home Owner Grant in 2019. According to the ACT Revenue Office, grant payments are not available for transactions with a commencement date from 1 July 2019, and the grant was replaced by an expanded Home Buyer Concession Scheme. For a contract to buy a home, the commencement date is the date contracts are signed and exchanged, not the settlement date.

The change reflects the Territory's broader tax policy. Since the 2012-13 Budget the ACT has been running a 20-year program to reduce and eventually replace conveyance duty with general rates. Directing assistance through duty relief, rather than a cash grant, fits that program: it lowers the largest upfront government charge on a purchase and is available for established homes as well as new ones.

The trade-off is that duty relief does not put money in the buyer's hands. A grant can be counted toward the deposit, while a duty concession reduces the costs that sit alongside the deposit. For most ACT first home buyers the result is broadly similar, because savings that would otherwise be spent on duty can go toward the deposit instead.

How the Home Buyer Concession Scheme works in the ACT from 1 July 2026

The Home Buyer Concession Scheme is now the ACT's central form of first home assistance. Under the 2026 determination for the scheme, the duty payable on an eligible transaction with a transaction date on or after 1 July 2026 is nil. The 2026-27 ACT Budget removed the income threshold and the property price cap that applied in previous years, so the concession is no longer limited by what the home costs or what the household earns.

Three groups of conditions remain. First, every buyer must be an individual acquiring in a personal capacity, and must be at least 18 on the transaction date unless the Commissioner for ACT Revenue accepts a younger age. Companies, trustees and partnerships cannot qualify. Second, on the transaction date every buyer and every buyer's domestic partner must not have held a legal or equitable interest in land in the previous five years, apart from limited allowed interests, such as land relinquished under a court order or a family law financial agreement. Third, at least one buyer must occupy the property as a principal place of residence for a continuous period of at least one year, beginning within one year of settlement for a home, or within one year of the certificate of occupancy for vacant land.

The five-year look-back means the scheme is not strictly a first home buyer program. A person who sold a home more than five years before the purchase can qualify. The domestic partner test can work against a buyer, however, because a partner who currently owns land will generally prevent the concession even if the partner is not named on the contract. If the residence requirement is not met, the buyer must notify the Commissioner within 14 days, and the buyer is treated as never having been eligible, so duty, and possibly penalty tax and interest, becomes payable.

The value of the concession depends on the price. At $750,000 an owner-occupier who does not qualify would pay $19,208 in conveyance duty in 2026-27, and at $1,000,000 the figure is $33,958. The table on this page shows the relief at a range of prices.

Duty exemptions for new units and the owner-occupier rate in the ACT

Buyers who do not meet the five-year ownership test still have options. The Off the Plan Unit Duty Exemption Scheme exempts an individual who buys a unit before the units plan is registered, provided at least one buyer will live in it for a continuous year. The Newly Unit Titled Duty Exemption Scheme applies the same exemption to a completed unit bought from the developer within two years of the units plan being registered, where the buyer is the first occupant. Neither exemption has a price cap or a prior ownership test. The ACT Revenue Office states that the 2026-27 Budget made the off-the-plan exemption permanent and extended it to these turn-key units.

For established homes, a buyer who will live in the property but does not qualify for the Home Buyer Concession Scheme pays duty at the owner-occupier rate. Between $260,000 and $1,455,000 that rate is $2,992 lower than the rate charged to investors. The ACT stamp duty calculator on this site shows both figures.

The Affordable Home Purchase Scheme in Canberra

The Affordable Home Purchase Scheme is run by the Suburban Land Agency. Developers of certain ACT Government land releases are required to set aside a share of dwellings as affordable homes, usually apartments, terraces or townhouses sold off the plan, and to offer them to eligible buyers at or below set price thresholds. For 2026-27 the maximum prices are $397,623 for a home smaller than 80 square metres, $459,073 for 80 to 105 square metres and $522,935 for a home larger than 105 square metres. The thresholds are reviewed against the Wage Price Index and updated on 1 July each year.

The eligibility rules are tighter than for the duty concession. Applicants must be at least 18, Australian citizens or permanent residents, must not own or have previously owned property, and must live in the home for 12 months after settlement. Gross household income must not exceed $100,000 for households with up to two children, rising to $148,000 for five or more children, and combined financial assets must not exceed $116,375 for a single person or $148,625 for two or more household members.

Access is by ballot, not by queue. Households sign up to receive offerings by email, enter a ballot for a specific offering once per household, and, if drawn, provide evidence of eligibility within a limited time. The scheme does not lend money, so a successful applicant must arrange finance independently, and construction of off-the-plan homes can take from six months to two years.

The ACT Land Rent Scheme for new house blocks

The Land Rent Scheme lets a buyer of an eligible single residential block rent the land from the ACT Government rather than pay for it at the outset. The buyer then needs finance only for building the home, which can substantially reduce the amount borrowed. For leases granted under contracts from 1 October 2013, only households eligible for the discounted rate can enter the scheme. Under the Land Rent Act 2008 and the 2026 land rent determination, the discounted rent is 2% of the land's unimproved value each year, and later annual increases are capped.

To be eligible for discounted land rent, the lessees must not own other real property, their combined income must not exceed the income threshold, and once a certificate of occupancy is issued at least one lessee must live on the land. For 2026-27 the threshold for post-2013 leases is $170,000 with no dependent children, rising by $3,330 for each dependent child to $186,650 for five or more. A lessee who exceeds the threshold for two consecutive years, acquires other property or stops living on the land loses eligibility to pay land rent. Buyers should understand these ongoing conditions and confirm with a lender that it will finance a home on a land rent lease before committing.

ACT help for public housing tenants and pensioners

Housing ACT operates a Shared Equity Scheme for public housing tenants who wish to buy the home they rent. The tenant buys 70% of the property with finance from the participating lender, and Housing ACT retains the remaining 30%. The owner buys that share back progressively, with part required within five years and the balance within 15 years of settlement, and the owner and Housing ACT share in changes in the property's value. Tenants must have held a public housing tenancy continuously for at least three years and meet other conditions set by Housing ACT.

For older buyers, the Pensioner Duty Concession Scheme provides nil duty from 1 July 2026 where at least one buyer receives the age pension or an equivalent, receives the disability support pension and is 50 or older, holds a Gold Card or receives a service pension. It is aimed at pensioners moving from one home to another, so the former home must generally be sold within a year before or after the purchase, and the scheme can be used only once. A Pensioner Duty Deferral Scheme also allows eligible pensioners to defer duty, with interest, until the property is transferred.

Combining ACT assistance with federal schemes

ACT assistance and the federal schemes operate independently, and a buyer can generally use both where each set of rules is met. The federal 5% Deposit Scheme has a property price cap of $1,000,000 throughout the ACT, and Help to Buy, the federal shared equity program, also has a cap of $1,000,000 in the ACT. The Home Buyer Concession Scheme has no price cap, so a buyer purchasing above $1,000,000 may still pay nil duty but cannot use the federal guarantee for that purchase.

The conditions also differ in detail. The Home Buyer Concession Scheme applies a five-year ownership test to buyers and their domestic partners, while the federal schemes apply their own first home buyer and prior ownership rules. A buyer who qualifies for one should not assume that they qualify for the other. The federal schemes, including the First Home Super Saver Scheme, are explained on the national government grants hub of this site.

Duty relief and a low deposit guarantee complement each other. Nil duty means savings are not diverted to conveyance duty, and the 5% Deposit Scheme allows eligible buyers to borrow up to 95% of the price without paying lenders mortgage insurance. Together they reduce the cash needed at settlement to the deposit and other purchase costs.

A practical sequence for first home buyers in Canberra

A sensible order is to confirm eligibility first, then arrange finance, then buy. Before inspecting properties, a buyer should check the five-year ownership test for every buyer and domestic partner, and decide who will live in the home for the required year. Where a federal guarantee is intended, a place is obtained through a participating lender, which should be done before exchange so that pre-approval reflects the smaller deposit.

ACT contracts come with building and compliance inspection reports, an energy efficiency rating statement and title documents attached, because sellers must provide them before advertising under the Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003. The cooling-off period is five business days. The Home Buyer Concession Scheme is claimed when the transfer is lodged after settlement, and duty, if any, is assessed after title registration, so a conveyancer should confirm eligibility early.

The rules and figures on this page were checked against the 2026-27 determinations and official ACT Government sources in September 2026, and are general information only. BorrowWise is an education site and can connect readers with an accredited mortgage broker for questions about finance and scheme eligibility.