QLD first home buyers
QLD First Home Owner Grant
The Queensland First Home Owner Grant is a state government payment of $30,000 for eligible first home buyers who buy or build a new home in Queensland, including houses, units, duplexes and townhouses, under the state's value cap.
Your Mortgage Broker Stanthorpe(https://g.page/r/placeholder) is a mortgage broking service based in Stanthorpe, and this page walks through who qualifies, which properties the grant covers, how it combines with duty relief and what commonly causes applications to be refused across the Southern Downs.
What It Is Worth Right Now
The figure that surprises most first-time buyers checking pages written a couple of years ago is the amount itself. Contracts signed on or after 20 November 2023 attract $30,000, double the $15,000 that applied to earlier contracts. The Queensland Revenue Office landing page still references the 23 June 2026 State Budget, and no change to the amount or the cap is stated on its eligibility page, so $30,000 is the current figure for eligible contracts. The older $15,000 figure still circulates on stale national comparison sites, so always check the contract date rather than the page date.
Who Qualifies
The eligibility rules sit with the Queensland Revenue Office, and they are tested on every applicant, not just the one buying. The main conditions are:
Natural persons only
Citizenship or residency
First home in practice
New home only
Under the cap
Genuine renovations only
You live in it
Which Properties It Covers
The property-type rules trip up more buyers than the income or citizenship tests, so the position side by side:
| Property type | Grant eligible? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Newly built house, unit, duplex or townhouse | Yes | Never previously occupied or sold as a residence |
| Substantially renovated home | Yes, in limited cases | Completed by the seller; cosmetic work does not count |
| Off-the-plan purchase | Yes | Must be new and under the value cap |
| Contract to build (comprehensive home building contract) | Yes | Contract price plus land value must be under $750,000 |
| Owner-builder | Yes | $30,000 where foundations were laid on or after 20 November 2023 |
| Established home | No | The QRO states plainly there are no grants for established homes |
Why The Rule Bites Here
This is where the statewide rule meets Stanthorpe's actual housing stock, and the mismatch shapes what a first-home buyer here can realistically chase. The grant pays only on new dwellings, and new dwellings are precisely what this town builds least of.
Thin new-build supply
Only 68 dwellings were approved across the last five years across Stanthorpe, with 16 of those in 2021-22, so the pool of genuinely new, never-occupied homes competing for the grant is small at any given moment. Construction lending is therefore the more common route to the payment here than spotting a finished new listing.
Building is the realistic path
For most local buyers the grant arrives through a comprehensive home building contract or a house-and-land package rather than a finished purchase. That changes the value test: the building contract consideration plus the unencumbered value of the land at contract date must come in under $750,000, and land bought years earlier that has since risen in value can quietly push the combined figure over the line.
The established-home gap
With 88.2 per cent of local dwellings being separate houses and only 1.9 per cent flats or apartments, most of what gets listed around town is established stock, and established stock earns nothing under this grant at any price. A buyer who falls for a charming older house on the Granite Belt needs to know before the offer that the $30,000 will not follow them there.
What it means for your search
If the grant matters to your budget, and on a median household income of about $970 a week it usually does, your search should start with new releases and build-ready land around Stanthorpe and the surrounding localities rather than the established market. Our first home buyer loans page covers how the lending side of that path works.
How It Stacks With Duty Relief
The grant is not the only first-home benefit in Queensland, and the two schemes cover different property types, which is the part most buyers mix up:
Separate schemes, separate tests
No duty at all under $700,000
A reduced band above that
Both can apply to one purchase
Occupancy rules differ
Renting a room is possible
Residency rules tightened
How it works
How To Apply And When Money Arrives
The application route you choose changes when the money lands, sometimes by months, so it is worth deciding deliberately rather than by default. The QRO apply page sets out both paths.
- 1
Through an approved agent
Lodging through your bank or lender as an approved agent is the fastest route, and for a straightforward purchase the grant is generally paid at settlement. This suits buyers whose deposit stretches further with the payment included on the day.
- 2
Directly through the QRO
Applying directly to the Queensland Revenue Office means waiting until the home is complete and every supporting document has been supplied before any payment arrives. Buyers choosing this route need to fund the purchase without counting on the grant at settlement.
- 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. Progress payments through the build come from your construction loan, and the grant lands at the end, not the start.
- 4
The deadline
You have one year from taking possession and title registration to apply for a purchase, or one year from completion for a build. Miss it and the payment is gone regardless of how clean your eligibility was.
Worth knowing early
What Gets An Application Knocked Back
Refusals under this scheme are rarely bad luck. They are predictable, and most were avoidable at contract stage:
- Buying established stock The single most common refusal: buyers assume any first home qualifies, and established homes never do.
- Landing on or over $750,000 The cap is a hard cutoff. The grant is not reduced, it is refused in full, including when contract variations push the price over late.
- Misreading a house-and-land package A land contract plus a separate building contract is a contract-to-build transaction, so the value test includes the land, and a separate non-comprehensive building contract with benchtops or electrical excluded fails the test entirely.
- Old land, new house, blown cap Land held for years that has appreciated can push a build past $750,000 even when the build contract itself looks comfortably under.
- Breaking the occupancy rule Moving in more than a year after completion, or leaving before six continuous months, puts the grant at risk, with discretion reserved for genuinely exceptional circumstances.
- Hidden prior ownership A spouse who owned a unit in another state years ago disqualifies a joint application, so check both applicants' history before signing anything.
Where we work
Areas We Service
Your Mortgage Broker Stanthorpe works with first-home buyers across Stanthorpe and the wider Southern Downs, including Applethorpe, Dalcouth, Diamondvale, Kyoomba, Mount Tully and Severnlea. Where a new release or build site sits relative to the value cap, and how the funding stages together, is exactly the conversation we have with buyers in these localities every week.
Questions answered
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the QLD First Home Owner Grant worth?
Eligible new-home contracts signed on or after 20 November 2023 attract $30,000. Contracts signed before that date received $15,000, so ignore older pages quoting the smaller figure.
Can I get the grant on an established home?
No. The Queensland Revenue Office is explicit that there are no grants for established homes. An established purchase can still qualify for the separate first home duty concession.
What is the property price cap for the grant?
The home and land together must be worth less than $750,000, including any contract variations. 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. Discretion exists only in exceptional circumstances.
Is the grant different from stamp duty relief?
They are separate schemes. The grant only covers new homes, while the duty concession also covers established homes, with no duty payable on a first home valued at $700,000 or under.
How long does the grant take to arrive?
Applying through an approved agent such as your lender is the fastest route, generally paid at settlement. Applications lodged directly with the QRO wait until the home is complete.
Mortgage broker for Stanthorpe and the suburbs around it
Get In Touch
If you are weighing a new build against established stock and want the grant and duty position worked through before you sign, talk to Your Mortgage Broker Stanthorpe at Your Mortgage Broker Stanthorpe. Call (07) 3523 7116 for a no-cost conversation about your first home buyer loan, or read more about us. Published fees, published process, no surprises.