NSW first home buyers
NSW First Home Owner Grant
The First Home Owner Grant is a one-off payment from the NSW Government to eligible first home buyers who buy or build a new home, purchase off the plan, or buy a substantially renovated home that has never been lived in or sold since renovation.
Your Mortgage Broker Glenhaven(/) covers this page from a Glenhaven buyer's point of view: what the grant pays, who qualifies, which properties around The Hills actually fit the rules, and how it combines with stamp duty relief. Every figure below links to Revenue NSW so you can verify it yourself.
What It Is Worth Right Now
The grant is worth a one-off payment of $10,000, paid once per transaction and once per applicant in a lifetime. That number surprises people for two reasons. First, a surprising amount of content still circulating online quotes a much larger figure, sometimes $30,000, which has not applied for years and cannot be verified on any current government source. If a website or a well-meaning relative quotes you more than ten thousand dollars, they are repeating a number that expired. Second, the grant has been left untouched: the 2026-27 NSW Budget, handed down on 23 June 2026, made no changes to the grant amount or the value caps. So the position is stable, but modest, and it matters most when it is stacked with the separate duty relief scheme covered further down this page.
Who Qualifies
Eligibility is tested on the applicant as much as the property, and Revenue NSW applies each test strictly. These are the criteria that decide most applications: source
First ownership test
Natural persons only
Citizenship or residency
The occupancy commitment
One grant per lifetime
Age and capacity
If any of these tests is borderline for you, for example a partner who briefly co-owned an investment unit years ago, resolve it before you sign a contract rather than after.
Which Properties It Covers
The property type and price caps decide everything, and they differ depending on how you buy. This table sets out the two purchase routes: source
| Purchase route | What qualifies | Value cap | Grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home and land under one contract | New home, off-the-plan, or substantially renovated and never lived in or sold since renovation | $600,000 | $10,000 |
| Vacant land plus separate building contract | New build on land you buy separately, combined value of land and build | $750,000 combined | $10,000 |
| Established home, any price | Previously lived in or sold | No cap applies because it is not eligible | Nil |
The last row is the one that catches people. An established home is excluded from the grant at any price, even a modest one, because the test is about the property's history, not your budget.
Why The Rule Bites Here
Statewide, the grant is straightforward. In Glenhaven it is genuinely hard to use, and the reason lies in what this suburb is actually made of. [source for local figures: ABS-derived suburb facts table]
What The Cap Excludes
Glenhaven's housing stock is overwhelmingly established: 74.4 per cent of dwellings are separate houses, only 1.5 per cent are flats or apartments, and the building eras run from the 1960s through the 2000s. Nearly all of it has been lived in before, which means nearly all of it fails the new-home test, at any price.
Where New Stock Sits
Genuinely eligible stock is scarce. The suburb recorded just 52 dwelling approvals across the last five years, and only 11 in 2021-22, placing Glenhaven in the 15th percentile for building activity in the state. New builds here are occasional knockdown-rebuilds on big blocks, not a pipeline of grant-ready homes.
The Eligible-Desirable Gap
Even where a new or substantially renovated home exists, the large-lot, semi-rural character that makes Glenhaven desirable pushes prices well past the $600,000 single-contract cap, and often past the $750,000 combined cap once land and build are added together on an acreage-style block.
What This Means For Your Search
Practically, most Glenhaven first buyers claim the grant elsewhere, or use the duty relief scheme here instead, which does cover established homes. If you want this suburb specifically, the honest path is usually a modest established purchase with duty relief, not the grant.
How It Stacks With Duty Relief
This is where first buyers recover real money, because the two schemes are separate and stack. The grant covers new homes only, but the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme covers new and established homes alike: source
Full duty exemption to $800,000
Concessions from $800,000 to $1,000,000
Vacant land has its own bands
Both schemes can combine
Thresholds are settled for now
An established home above the grant's reach but under the duty threshold still gets the duty concession, just no grant. That is the most common outcome for a Glenhaven purchase.
How it works
How To Apply And When Money Arrives
The mechanics are simpler than the eligibility tests, but timing differs a lot by purchase route, and it is worth knowing before you sign anything: source
- 1
Lodging The Claim
Most claims go through an approved bank or lender acting as Revenue NSW's agent, lodged alongside your home loan application. Where no approved agent is involved, you lodge directly with Revenue NSW. Your conveyancer or broker should confirm the route early.
- 2
When The Money Lands
For a home already built and ready to occupy, the grant is generally paid at settlement. It reduces the funds you need on the day rather than arriving as cash in hand afterwards, which changes your deposit planning.
- 3
Buying Off The Plan
Off-the-plan purchases are paid at settlement too, but settlement can sit well beyond the contract date depending on developer completion. Budget for the gap between signing and receiving the grant, because your deposit commitments do not wait for it.
- 4
Building Under Contract
For a construction build, the grant is typically paid once the first progress payment is made to the builder. That timing matters for your cash flow, because early site and slab stages usually need funding before the grant arrives.
Worth knowing early
What Gets An Application Knocked Back
Revenue NSW publishes the refusal patterns, and they are remarkably consistent. Each of these has cost real applicants their $10,000: source
- Wrong property type Assuming any first home purchase qualifies, rather than checking the new-home test, is the single most common failure. Established homes are simply out.
- The cap, even marginally A contract price sitting just over $600,000 or $750,000 disqualifies the entire application. The grant does not reduce; it disappears.
- Occupancy breaches Not moving in within 12 months, or moving out before completing 12 months of continuous residence, can cost you the grant after the fact.
- Hidden prior ownership A partner who briefly co-owned property interstate, even years ago, fails the prior ownership test. Check both applicants' full history.
- Wrong applicant structure Applying through a company or trust rather than as natural people fails the test, a trap for buyers used to business structures.
- Incomplete documents Missing identity, contract or citizenship evidence at lodgement delays or derails claims that were otherwise perfectly eligible.
Where we work
Areas We Service
Your Mortgage Broker Glenhaven(/) works with first home buyers across the Hills district from a Glenhaven base, and the surrounding suburbs each have their own pages: Kenthurst, Dural, Castle Hill, Kellyville and Annangrove. Castle Hill and Kellyville, with their metro access and newer stock, tend to offer more grant-eligible properties than Glenhaven itself.
Questions answered
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the NSW First Home Owner Grant worth?
The grant pays $10,000 once per eligible transaction, paid to the applicant, not the seller. Beware older articles quoting $30,000; that figure has not applied for years and appears on no current government source.
Can I get the grant on an established home?
No. The grant covers new homes, off-the-plan purchases and substantially renovated homes never lived in or sold since renovation. An established home that someone has lived in is not eligible at any price, though duty relief may still apply.
What is the property price cap for the grant?
For a home and land bought under one contract the cap is $600,000. For vacant land with a separate building contract the combined value cap is $750,000. Going even marginally over disqualifies the whole application.
Do I have to live in the property to keep the grant?
Yes. For contracts from 1 July 2023 you must move in within 12 months of settlement or completion and live there continuously as your main residence for at least 12 months.
Is the grant different from stamp duty relief?
Yes, they are separate schemes. The grant only applies to new homes. The First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme covers new and established homes, with a full duty exemption up to $800,000 and concessions tapering out at $1,000,000.
How long does the grant take to arrive?
For a built home it is generally paid at settlement. For construction it typically arrives after the first progress payment to the builder. Off-the-plan timing depends on when the developer completes and settlement occurs.
Mortgage broker for Glenhaven and the suburbs around it
Get In Touch
If you are weighing up whether the grant, the duty relief or a guarantor structure gets you into your first home sooner, a short conversation will map it out. Call (02) 9072 0647 to book a strategy call with Your Mortgage Broker Glenhaven. You will get published fees, a written process with real timelines, and no obligation to proceed. You can also read more about us first, or go straight to the first home buyer loans page or the construction loans page if a build is on your mind.