VIC first home buyers
VIC First Home Owner Grant
The First Home Owner Grant is a Victorian government payment of $10,000 for eligible first home buyers who buy or build a new home valued up to $750,000 and live in it as their principal place of residence. Established homes are not eligible.
This page sets out who qualifies, which properties the grant covers, how it interacts with the separate first home buyer duty exemption, and why the value cap matters so much in Aberfeldie's stock. Your Mortgage Broker Aberfeldie arranges finance for first home buyers across Moonee Valley and structures applications around both schemes.
What It Is Worth Right Now
The headline number is simple: one payment of $10,000, available statewide at the same amount. What surprises most buyers is how narrow the door is. Victoria pays the grant only on new homes: a home never previously sold, occupied as a home, leased out or used for short-term accommodation, a substantially renovated home, a home built to replace a demolished one, or an off-the-plan purchase of the same. An established home attracts nothing, at any price, and the separate regional grant scheme that once paid more outside Melbourne is closed to current contracts. The cap sits at $750,000 in value, or the contract price for off-the-plan purchases. Because the payment depends on the property being genuinely new, the scheme steers buyers toward growth corridors, apartment projects and subdivision releases, and that steering shapes where the money actually lands and which listings are worth shortlisting in the first place.
Who Qualifies
Eligibility turns on the applicants as much as the property, and the SRO's eligibility rules are applied strictly at assessment:
Natural persons only
Age and status
A clean ownership history
The partner rule bites
A genuine occupancy commitment
A deadline for claiming
If any of these raise a question, particularly the partner history or a previous part-ownership, it is worth resolving before you commit to a deposit.
Which Properties It Covers
The distinction between what the grant covers and what the duty relief covers is where most confusion sits, so the table below sets the two schemes side by side:
| Property situation | $10,000 grant | Duty exemption or concession |
|---|---|---|
| New home, never sold or occupied | Yes, up to $750,000 | Exemption to $600,000, concession to $750,000 |
| Substantially renovated home | Yes, up to $750,000 | Yes |
| Home built to replace a demolished one | Yes, up to $750,000 | Yes |
| Off-the-plan purchase | Yes, if the contract price is under $750,000 | Yes |
| Established home | No, at any price | Exemption to $600,000, concession to $750,000 |
| Vacant land to build a first home | No | Yes, with its own occupancy timing |
Both schemes carry occupancy conditions, and the duty exemption or concession page sets out the vacant land timing separately, with move-in required by the earlier of twelve months from the occupancy certificate or thirty-six months from settlement.
Why The Rule Bites Here
This is where a statewide rule meets one particular suburb, and where the grant changes the shape of a buyer's search rather than just the size of their cheque.
Close To The Cap
Aberfeldie is a high-value pocket within Moonee Valley: households here sit in the top SEIFA decile for advantage and at the 95th percentile for income within Victoria, and the stock reflects that, with 41.3 per cent of dwellings carrying four or more bedrooms. Established family homes in a suburb like this trade well above the $750,000 cap as a rule, which means the grant is rarely a factor in the character-house market at all.
Where Eligible Stock Sits
The eligible supply does exist. The suburb recorded 956 dwelling approvals over the last five years, placing it at the 91st percentile in the state for building activity, and 13.9 per cent of dwellings are flats or apartments, a share that keeps growing. That pipeline is exactly the sort of new townhouse and apartment product the grant was designed to subsidise, concentrated 8.3 kilometres from the CBD.
Eligible Versus Desirable
The tension is that the properties the grant will pay for are largely not the dwellings most Aberfeldie buyers picture, because the detached houses that draw many purchasers here are ineligible established stock. A buyer set on a period home on a full block will receive no grant no matter what they pay. A buyer open to a new three-bedroom townhouse may qualify for the payment and, depending on price, the duty relief as well.
What This Means Locally
Practically, first home buyers around Aberfeldie should run two searches at once: the established market they may actually prefer, and the new-build market where the $10,000 grant and possible duty relief materially change the deposit maths. The first home buyer loans page sets out how a purchase can be structured around both schemes, and a construction loan may suit where the plan is to build new and claim the grant on completion.
How It Stacks With Duty Relief
The grant and the duty exemption are separate schemes, and understanding how they interact changes the total picture:
Under $600,000, new home
$600,001 to $750,000, new home
Established home under $600,000
Established home $600,001 to $750,000
The thresholds are not the same
Once only, and the partner counts
Because the duty relief applies to established homes, it does not push you toward new stock the way the grant does. That distinction should shape which search you weight first, not the other way around.
How it works
How To Apply And When Money Arrives
The process itself is not complicated, and each step has a deadline attached, so the order matters more than the difficulty:
- 1
Lodge Through Your Lender
Most applicants lodge through an approved agent, which in practice means their lender, at the time the loan application is submitted, and this is the route usually set up as standard. Lodging directly with the SRO is also available, typically where a buyer has paid cash or settled outside a standard lending application.
- 2
The Twelve Month Deadline
The application must reach the SRO within 12 months of settlement for a purchase, or within 12 months of completion for a home built under a construction contract. Miss that window and an otherwise eligible claim fails, so the date belongs in the calendar the day settlement is booked.
- 3
Payment Follows Completion
The SRO's published material does not promise fixed payment dates, so the honest position is that the grant is paid once the eligible transaction completes. For a construction build that means the grant lands at the end of the project, not at the start, which affects deposit planning and is worth modelling before you commit to a builder.
- 4
Structure Set Up Early
Where the purchase is new or off the plan, the lending application should be prepared so the grant and any duty relief are claimed correctly the first time, and the guarantor and low deposit loans page covers options where the schemes alone do not close the deposit gap. A guarantor should always take independent legal and financial advice before committing.
Worth knowing early
What Gets An Application Knocked Back
The SRO's published knock-back reasons are almost always predictable in hindsight, which makes them avoidable in advance:
- Buying established and assuming eligibility The single most common rejection, and entirely avoidable, because the established-home exclusion is unconditional and applies regardless of price, condition or first-buyer status.
- A "new" home with a prior tenancy A home that has been leased out, or used as short-term accommodation, before purchase is not eligible, so a body corporate or agent history needs checking before contracts are signed.
- Crossing the $750,000 line A contract price above the cap disqualifies the application, including for off-the-plan purchases where the completed value would have fallen under it.
- Breaking the occupancy rule Not living in the home for the full 12 continuous months, or starting occupation later than 12 months after settlement or completion, can forfeit the grant, including where the buyer rents the property out instead of moving in.
- A hidden ownership history Prior residential ownership or a prior grant by the applicant or their partner surfaces at assessment and ends the claim, sometimes after a contract has already gone unconditional.
- Applying in the wrong structure A company or trust cannot hold the grant, so buyers who later add a trust to the title after contracts are drawn lose the payment.
- Missing the lodgement window Applications lodged more than 12 months after settlement or completion are refused, with no discretion for oversight.
Every one of these is checkable before you sign. That is the point of the list.
Where we work
Areas We Service
Your Mortgage Broker Aberfeldie works with first home buyers and grant applicants across Moonee Valley, including Essendon, Moonee Ponds, Maribyrnong and Essendon West, alongside Aberfeldie itself. Wherever the purchase sits within these suburbs, the same grant rules and value cap apply, and the local stock mix changes which scheme does the heavy lifting. You can read more about how we work on the about page.
Questions answered
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the VIC First Home Owner Grant worth?
The grant pays $10,000 once per eligible transaction, and the same amount applies across Victoria, including metropolitan Melbourne. The separate regional grant scheme is closed and does not apply to current contracts.
Can I get the grant on an established home?
No. The grant covers new homes never sold, occupied or leased before purchase, substantially renovated homes, and homes built to replace a demolished one. Established homes receive no grant at any price.
What is the property price cap for the grant?
The property must be worth up to $750,000. For an off-the-plan purchase, the cap applies to the contract price rather than the completed value, which can change what qualifies.
Do I have to live in the property to keep the grant?
Yes. At least one applicant must move in within 12 months of settlement or completion and live there as their principal place of residence for at least 12 continuous months.
Is the grant different from stamp duty relief?
Yes, they are separate schemes with separate thresholds. The duty exemption or concession applies to new and established homes up to $750,000, while the grant applies only to eligible new homes.
How long does the grant take to arrive?
The SRO does not publish fixed payment dates. Payment is made once the eligible transaction completes, and you must lodge within 12 months of settlement or completion of the build.
Mortgage broker for Aberfeldie and the suburbs around it
Get In Touch
If you are weighing a townhouse against an established home and want the grant and duty positions modelled side by side before you commit, call (03) 9122 8522 for a free, no-obligation conversation. You will speak with Your Mortgage Broker Aberfeldie, who will look after your file from first call to settlement, and every fee and commission we earn is disclosed in writing. Your Mortgage Broker Aberfeldie operates under Australian Credit Licence 389328, so you know who is responsible for your file.