WA first home buyers
WA First Home Owner Grant
The First Home Owner Grant is a one-off payment of up to $10,000 from the Western Australian government to first home buyers who buy or build a new home, or a substantially renovated one, anywhere in the state.
This page explains the grant as it stands in September 2026, then connects the eligibility rules to what is actually for sale around City Beach. Your Mortgage Broker City Beach(/) arranges finance across Perth's western suburbs, and the pages below cover who qualifies, what the grant buys, how it combines with duty relief and where applications commonly fail.
The Payment Has Quietly Become the Smaller Prize
Most buyers assume the $10,000 grant is the main game. Since the 2026-27 Housing Taxation Package took effect on 7 May 2026, the duty side is often worth considerably more: a first home buyer pays no transfer duty at all on a home with a dutiable value up to $600,000, and a reduced rate between $600,001 and $800,000. On a mid-priced first home, the duty saved can dwarf the grant itself, which is why the two schemes need to be read together rather than one at a time. Both figures come from RevenueWA, and both changed on 7 May 2026, so older pages quoting previous thresholds are out of date.
Who Qualifies
Eligibility is set by RevenueWA and applies identically across the state. The criteria that decide most applications are these:
Age and legal capacity
Citizenship or residency
No prior grant
Limited prior ownership
An occupancy commitment
No means test
Which Properties It Covers
The grant and the duty relief cover different property types, which trips up more buyers than any other rule. Here is the split:
| Property type | First Home Owner Grant | First home owner rate of duty |
|---|---|---|
| New home, up to $800,000 | Eligible, up to $10,000 | No duty up to $600,000, reduced above |
| Established home | Not eligible at any price | No duty up to $600,000, reduced to $800,000 |
| Substantially renovated home | Eligible, up to $10,000 | Treated per the duty fact sheet |
| Vacant land to build on | Eligible if the completed value fits the cap | No duty up to $450,000, reduced to $550,000 |
Both schemes are administered by RevenueWA, and the duty fact sheet sets out the exact bands.
Why The Rule Bites Here
City Beach is a hard place to spend a first home owner grant, and the suburb's own numbers explain why.
Values Sit Above The Cap
The $800,000 cap applies to all of Perth, and City Beach sits comfortably above it for most stock. With 68.6 per cent of dwellings offering four or more bedrooms and a median household income in the state's top percentile, this is deep established territory where the grant rarely reaches the houses buyers actually want.
New Stock Is Genuinely Scarce
Only 136 dwellings were approved across the suburb in the last five years, across a total of 2,309 dwellings, and just 26 of those approvals landed in 2021-22. Eligible new stock therefore exists in small pockets, typically apartments, which make up only 7.1 per cent of local dwellings.
The Gap Between Eligible And Desirable
What is grant-eligible and what people actually want to buy are different things here. A young family searching City Beach wants the separate-house format that fills 87.6 per cent of the suburb, and nearly all of it is established housing that attracts no grant at all.
What That Means For Your Search
Buyers chasing the grant face a choice: hunt the thin stream of new apartments locally, or widen the search to neighbouring suburbs where newer stock and lower price points overlap. Scarborough, a short drive north, regularly produces the kind of newer, lower-priced stock the grant was designed for, while Wembley Downs and Floreat sit in similar territory to City Beach. Decide early whether the grant is central to your plan or a bonus if the right property appears, because it changes which listings deserve your inspections.
How It Stacks With Duty Relief
The two schemes are separate, with different figures and different property rules, and stacking them correctly is where the real money sits:
New home under $600,000
New home, $600,001 to $800,000
Established home up to $800,000
Vacant land
Over the grant cap
How it works
How To Apply And When Money Arrives
The process runs through RevenueWA, and the deadlines are the part buyers miss:
- 1
Lodging The Application
You can lodge online with RevenueWA directly, or through an approved agent, which in practice usually means your lender handling it alongside the loan application. Most buyers financing a purchase let the lender lodge, because the paperwork overlaps heavily with the home loan file.
- 2
When Payment Lands
The published pages do not promise fixed payment dates. The grant is paid once the eligible transaction completes, so a purchase pays at settlement and a construction build pays on completion of the eligible transaction. Plan your cash flow around your completion date rather than a fixed waiting period.
- 3
The Application Deadline
You have 12 months from the completion date to apply, and applications lodged later are refused. Diarise the deadline the day you settle or complete your build, because a missed application cannot be recovered after the fact.
- 4
Keeping The Grant
Approval is not the finish line. The six-month occupancy rule continues to apply after payment, and RevenueWA can require repayment where the occupancy commitment is not met, so treat the residence requirement as an ongoing condition rather than a formality at application.
Worth knowing early
What Gets An Application Knocked Back
RevenueWA's own guidance points to a short list of recurring failures, and every one of them is avoidable with a contract read before you sign:
- Buying established stock The most common knock-back: buyers contract on an established home expecting the grant that ended for such contracts in October 2015.
- Breach of the $800,000 cap A contract price above the cap south of the 26th parallel disqualifies the transaction entirely, so confirm the figure before offering.
- Occupancy failures Not living in the home for six continuous months, or starting occupation more than 12 months after completion, puts an approved grant at risk of clawback.
- Prior ownership surprises A co-buyer who owned a property years ago can disqualify a joint application, so check every applicant's history before lodging.
- Missed deadlines Applications lodged more than 12 months after completion are refused, with no discretion.
- Confusing the two schemes The grant cap and the duty thresholds are different figures under different rules, and assuming otherwise leads buyers to expect relief they are not entitled to claim.
Where we work
Areas We Service
Your Mortgage Broker City Beach(/) arranges first home finance across City Beach and the surrounding western suburbs, including Scarborough, Wembley Downs, Floreat, Mount Claremont and Swanbourne, where much of the grant-eligible newer stock actually trades.
Questions answered
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the WA First Home Owner Grant worth?
Up to $10,000, paid once per eligible transaction. If the contract price is lower than $10,000, the grant equals the price paid instead. Two co-buyers share a single grant.
Can I get the grant on an established home?
No. Contracts for established homes dated on or after 3 October 2015 are excluded. The grant covers new homes and substantially renovated homes only, though an established home can still attract duty relief.
What is the property price cap for the grant?
In Perth and everywhere south of the 26th parallel, the cap is $800,000 for transactions on or after 7 May 2026. North of that line it is $1,000,000.
Do I have to live in the property to keep the grant?
Yes. You must occupy the home as your principal place of residence for at least six continuous months, starting within 12 months of completion. Shorter or later occupation puts the grant at risk.
Is the grant different from stamp duty relief?
Yes, they are separate schemes with separate figures. The grant covers new homes only, while the first home owner rate of duty applies to established homes and vacant land as well, with its own thresholds.
How long does the grant take to arrive?
The published pages do not state fixed payment dates. Payment is made once the eligible transaction completes, so timing follows your settlement or build completion date. Apply within 12 months of completion.
Mortgage broker for City Beach and the suburbs around it
Get In Touch
If you are weighing a grant-eligible purchase against established alternatives, Your Mortgage Broker City Beach(/about/) can walk your borrowing power and duty position through with you before you commit to a contract. Call [TRACKING_PHONE] for a conversation with a broker working under an Australian Credit Licence, with published fees and a documented process, and no obligation to proceed.