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First home buyer help in New South Wales
What you can actually get in New South Wales, each figure with the date it was checked.
What can a first home buyer get in New South Wales?
A first home buyer in New South Wales can use two things at once. The First Home Owner Grant is $10,000, and the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme lets you buy with a 5% deposit and no lenders mortgage insurance under a price cap of $1,500,000 in Sydney and the named regional centres, $800,000 everywhere else. The grant figure was verified on 2026-08-26.
How current is this page?
Every figure on this page carries the date it was read at source. The federal scheme was read from the Housing Australia fact sheet of 1 July 2026 on 2026-08-27. Where a New South Wales figure has not been read, this page says so rather than repeating a number from memory.
The three things a first home buyer in New South Wales can use
The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme
The scheme was renamed on 1 July 2026 — it was the Home Guarantee Scheme and is now the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme. Income caps and place limits are both gone. The deposit has a ceiling as well as a floor: at least 5% and under 20%. In New South Wales the price cap is $1,500,000 in Sydney and the named regional centres, $800,000 everywhere else. Read from the Housing Australia fact sheet of 1 July 2026.
First Home Owner (New Homes) Grant
First Home Owner (New Homes) Grant is $10,000. It is new builds only. Verified against the revenue office on 2026-08-26.
First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme
New South Wales gives first home buyers a full transfer duty exemption up to a price threshold and a concession above it up to a ceiling. Revenue NSW publishes the thresholds without a last-updated date, so the figures are not printed here; the current numbers are checked with Revenue NSW at the sitting.
Find out which of these you actually qualify for
One short call and you will know what you can use and what you cannot.
The rules people get caught by, in every state
The deposit has a ceiling, not just a floor
At least 5% and under 20%. If you have 20% or more saved after covering stamp duty and legal fees, the loan is not eligible for the scheme. Every competitor page frames this as a minimum only, and the guide states it both ways.
A joint application is exactly two people
Partners, friends or family members — two, and they need not be a couple. Three or more borrowers do not qualify at all, and both applicants must pass the test separately. Read from the Housing Australia guide of 1 July 2026.
Building has a clock on it
A building contract within six months of settlement, construction started within twelve, finished within thirty-six, and you move in within six months of the occupancy certificate. Owner-builder contracts are not eligible at all.
Questions
Under the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme the cap in New South Wales is $1,500,000 in Sydney and the named regional centres, $800,000 everywhere else. Both the purchase price and the lender-assessed property value must be at or below it. Read from the Housing Australia fact sheet of 1 July 2026 on 2026-08-27.
Sources and check dates
Federal scheme figures come from the Housing Australia Information Guide and Fact Sheet, both printed 1 July 2026 and read on 2026-08-27. New South Wales figures come from that state's own revenue office, read on 2026-08-26.
Who wrote this page
Darren Parker, Credit Representative 501592, authorised under Australian Credit Licence 389328. Every figure here was read at source and dated. If a threshold has moved since the date shown, tell him and it is corrected.
See what you can buy in New South Wales on your numbers
Updated 13 September 2026