VIC first home buyers
VIC First Home Owner Grant
The Victorian First Home Owner Grant is a one-off payment of $10,000 from the Victorian Government to eligible first home buyers who buy or build a new home in Victoria valued at up to $750,000. It is administered by the State Revenue Office.
This page explains who qualifies, which properties the grant covers, how it interacts with first home buyer duty relief, and what commonly gets applications knocked back. Your Mortgage Broker Patterson Lakes maintains this page for buyers in Patterson Lakes and the surrounding bayside pocket, and updates it as the State Revenue Office updates its published terms.
What It Is Worth Right Now
The grant pays exactly $10,000 as a one-off payment per eligible transaction, and that figure applies statewide. Many buyers still arrive believing the old regional scheme pays more outside Melbourne, which is now wrong on both counts: the separate regional first home owner grant is a closed scheme that does not apply to current contracts, and the single current figure of $10,000 covers regional and metropolitan Victoria alike. That matters when you are comparing a new townhouse in Patterson Lakes against one in Gippsland, because the grant will not swing the decision either way. What will swing it, as the sections below explain, is how the grant stacks with the separate duty exemption or concession, and whether the property you actually want qualifies at all.
Who Qualifies
Eligibility is assessed on the applicants, the property and the transaction itself, and every condition below must be met. The State Revenue Office's eligibility page is the authoritative source, and the points here summarise it:
Natural persons only
Citizen or permanent resident
First-timer test
New property only
Value cap
Occupancy commitment
Deadline
Which Properties It Covers
The property-type rules trip up more buyers than the applicant rules do, because "new" has a specific meaning here. This table summarises what qualifies and what does not:
| Property | Grant eligible? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| New house, townhouse, apartment or unit, never sold or occupied | Yes | Must not have been leased out or used for short-term accommodation |
| Substantially renovated home | Yes | Renovation must meet the SRO's substantial renovation standard |
| Home built to replace a demolished one | Yes | Treated as a new home under the scheme |
| Off-the-plan purchase | Yes | Contract price is tested against the $750,000 cap |
| Established (previously occupied) home | No | No grant at any price, though duty relief may still apply |
| Company or trust purchase | No | Applicants must be natural persons |
Why The Rule Bites Here
A $750,000 cap interacts with Patterson Lakes in ways a statewide summary never captures, and the local facts table tells the story. The suburb is not a first home buyer heartland by profile: the median age sits at 46, nearly 39 per cent of dwellings are owned outright and the median household income of about $1,932 a week puts the area in the state's 74th income percentile. That shapes where eligible stock actually sits.
Cap Versus Local Prices
Patterson Lakes is a high-amenity bayside suburb 32.5 kilometres from the CBD, and canal-front homes and larger properties sit well above the level where a first home owner grant remains available. The value cap means a first home buyer here is realistically shopping in a narrow band of the local market, not across it, and treating the cap as a starting filter saves weeks of wasted open home visits.
Where Eligible Stock Sits
New dwellings are the requirement, and the supply of them is thin: about 250 dwellings were approved across the suburb in the last five years, with only 46 approvals in 2021-22. Flats and apartments make up roughly fifteen per cent of the roughly 3,070 local dwellings, so the genuinely grant-eligible new stock concentrates in unit and townhouse developments rather than the established housing that dominates the streets.
Eligible Versus Desirable
The gap between what qualifies and what buyers actually want is the honest problem. A grant-eligible off-the-plan unit and a four-bedroom canal home with a mooring are different purchases on different budgets, and roughly thirty-eight per cent of local homes have four or more bedrooms. Buyers who stretch past the cap lose the grant but may keep duty relief, which is a trade worth running the numbers on before offering.
What It Means For Your Search
Practically, the cap pushes the Patterson Lakes first home search toward newer units and townhouses, or toward neighbouring suburbs where eligible new stock is easier to find. Our first home buyer loans page sets out how we work the deposit and borrowing side alongside the grant, and a short conversation early in the search prevents a contract signed on a property that never qualified.
How It Stacks With Duty Relief
The duty exemption or concession is a completely separate scheme run under the same legislation, and confusing the two is the single most common misunderstanding we hear. The SRO duty page sets out the terms, and the stacking rules are where the real money sits:
New home up to $600,000
New home between $600,001 and $750,000
Established home up to $600,000
Established home up to $750,000
Different thresholds, different rules
Check both before offering
How it works
How To Apply And When Money Arrives
The application route and the timing rules are straightforward, but the deadline is unforgiving and the paperwork is easier to assemble before settlement than after. Two lodgement paths exist, and the one you use usually depends on your lender.
- 1
Lodge Through Your Lender
Most applicants lodge through an approved agent, which in practice means their lender, at the same time as the home loan application. The lender verifies eligibility and lodges the claim alongside settlement, which is usually the smoothest path for buyers who are also arranging finance.
- 2
Lodge Directly With The SRO
Buyers who paid cash, or whose lender is not an approved agent, apply directly to the State Revenue Office after the eligible transaction completes. The evidence requirements are the same, so identity documents, the contract and proof of eligibility all need to be assembled either way.
- 3
Watch The 12-Month Deadline
The application must be lodged within 12 months of settlement, or of completion of the build for construction transactions. Miss that window and an otherwise perfect claim fails, so the date belongs in the diary from settlement day, not discovered two years later.
- 4
When Payment Actually Lands
The SRO pages state that the grant is paid once the eligible transaction completes, but they do not publish a fixed processing timeframe, so we make no promises about dates. Plan cash flow around the contract and loan rather than around the grant, and treat the payment as a bonus when it lands.
Worth knowing early
What Gets An Application Knocked Back
Most declined applications fail on a handful of predictable mistakes, and every one of them is avoidable with a check before the contract is signed. The State Revenue Office's guidance makes these failure modes plain:
- Buying established The most common knock-back: the buyer assumed a previously owned home qualifies. It does not, at any price, and no argument changes it after settlement.
- Leased-out "new" homes A home that has been leased out or used for short-term accommodation before purchase is no longer a new home, so ex-display or ex-rental stock needs careful checking.
- Over the cap A contract price above $750,000 disqualifies the transaction, and for off-the-plan buyers the contract price is what gets tested.
- Broken occupancy Not living in the home for the full 12 continuous months, or starting occupation more than 12 months after settlement or completion, puts the grant at risk.
- Prior ownership or a prior grant If the applicant or their partner has owned and occupied a home for six or more continuous months on or after 1 July 2000, or received a grant before, the claim fails.
- Wrong applicant structure Applying as a company or a trust fails the natural persons requirement outright, which catches buyers who set up ownership structures before seeking advice.
- Missed deadline Lodging later than 12 months after settlement or completion forfeits the claim regardless of eligibility.
Where we work
Areas We Service
Your Mortgage Broker Patterson Lakes works with first home buyers right across the City of Kingston bayside pocket, including Chelsea Heights, Bangholme, Sandhurst, Carrum Downs, Seaford and Carrum. Where eligible new stock is scarce in one suburb, the neighbouring ones often have it, so we map the search area against the cap rather than the postcode.
Questions answered
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the VIC First Home Owner Grant worth?
The grant pays $10,000 as a one-off payment per eligible transaction. The same amount applies right across Victoria, because the separate regional grant scheme has closed and no longer applies to current contracts.
Can I get the grant on an established home?
No. The grant covers new homes never sold or occupied as a residence, substantially renovated homes, homes built to replace a demolished one, and off-the-plan purchases. Established homes do not qualify for the grant at any price.
What is the property price cap for the grant?
The property must be worth up to $750,000. For off-the-plan purchases, the cap applies to the contract price rather than the completed value, which can change what an off-the-plan buyer is able to claim.
Do I have to live in the property to keep the grant?
Yes. At least one applicant must move in as their principal place of residence within 12 months of settlement or completion, and stay for at least 12 continuous months. Failing the occupancy rule risks the grant.
Is the grant different from stamp duty relief?
Yes, they are separate schemes with different rules. The grant only covers qualifying new homes, while the first home buyer duty exemption or concession can also apply to established homes, with its own $600,000 and $750,000 thresholds.
How long does the grant take to arrive?
You must apply within 12 months of settlement or completion, through your lender as an approved agent or directly to the State Revenue Office. Payment is made once the eligible transaction completes; no fixed timeframe is published.
Mortgage broker for Patterson Lakes and the suburbs around it
Get In Touch
If you are weighing up a grant-eligible purchase against an established home with duty relief, talk it through before you offer. Call (03) 9122 8521 for a free, no-obligation conversation. You will deal with a named credit representative, see our published process and timelines upfront, and get answers grounded in the State Revenue Office's current published terms, not recycled interstate advice.