First home buyer SA: the $15,000 grant, stamp duty relief with no price cap, and how they add up

What do first home buyers get in South Australia?

South Australian first home buyers can get up to three kinds of help: the state's First Home Owner Grant, the state's stamp duty relief for first home buyers, and the federal 5% Deposit Scheme. They're separate, with separate rules and separate applications, and a buyer can qualify for one without the others.

The grant is cash toward a new home. The stamp duty relief removes a tax you'd otherwise pay at settlement. The 5% Deposit Scheme doesn't give you money at all: it lets you buy with a smaller deposit without paying lenders mortgage insurance (LMI), the insurance a lender charges you for when you borrow more than 80% of the price.

What this means for you: in South Australia, both pieces of state help depend on what you buy, not what you pay. A new home can get the lot. An established home gets the federal help only.

How much is the first home owner grant in SA?

The South Australian First Home Owner Grant is up to $15,000 for a first home buyer buying or building a new home [3]. If the price is less than $15,000, the grant is the price [3]. There's one grant per purchase, and you can't get it if you've had it before [2][3].

It's run by RevenueSA, the state agency that also collects stamp duty. The grant isn't means tested, so there's no income limit [2]. It's a grant, not a loan, and it comes with a rule on living in the home (part 24).

Do you have to buy new to get first home buyer help in SA?

For the state's help, yes. South Australia's grant and its stamp duty relief are both for a new home, an off-the-plan apartment or a home you build [1][6]. RevenueSA counts a home as new if it's been built but not lived in or sold as a home before [1]. An established home gets neither, whatever its price [1][6].

For the federal help, no. The 5% Deposit Scheme takes an existing home, a house and land package, vacant land with a separate contract to build, or an off-the-plan home, within its price cap [9].

What this means for you: on a $600,000 home, choosing new over established is worth $26,830 of stamp duty plus the $15,000 grant, $41,830 in all [8][13]. That's the line that matters in SA, not a price.

Which homes qualify for the SA grant and stamp duty relief?

The grant and the stamp duty relief cover nearly the same homes, but not quite. The table sets out each one against RevenueSA's own lists.

A substantially renovated home counts for the grant only when you buy it from a developer registered for GST [1]. It isn't named on the stamp duty relief's list [5][6], so check it before you count on the relief.

Is there a price cap on the SA first home grant and stamp duty relief?

No. On current contracts, South Australia has no price cap on either the First Home Owner Grant or the stamp duty relief [1][6]. RevenueSA's own words: "Full stamp duty relief is available, regardless of the property value" [7].

Older contracts had caps: $650,000, and before that $575,000, for the grant [1], and $700,000 for a new home or $450,000 for land, for the relief [6]. A page written under the old rules may still quote them, so check the date on anything you read.

The cap a South Australian first home buyer does meet is the federal one: the 5% Deposit Scheme stops at $900,000 in Adelaide and $500,000 in the rest of the state [9] (part 17).

Do first home buyers pay stamp duty in SA?

Not on a new home, an off-the-plan apartment or land to build their home on. For an eligible first home buyer, South Australia's stamp duty relief removes the stamp duty in full, at any price [6][7]. On an established home, a first home buyer pays stamp duty at the general rates, the same as anyone else [6][8].

South Australia calls it stamp duty, not transfer duty, and calls the first home help stamp duty relief rather than an exemption or a concession. It isn't a grant: your conveyancer usually claims it at settlement, so it lowers a bill rather than putting money in your account [5].

How do you calculate stamp duty in South Australia?

Stamp duty in South Australia is worked out from RevenueSA's rate table. For a home over $300,000 and up to $500,000, it's $11,330 plus $5.00 for every $100, or part of $100, over $300,000. Above $500,000, it's $21,330 plus $5.50 for every $100, or part of $100, over $500,000 [8].

So on a $650,000 home: $650,000 is $150,000 over $500,000, which is 1,500 lots of $100. At $5.50 each that's $8,250, plus $21,330, for $29,580 [8][13].

A foreign ownership surcharge of 7% can apply on top when a buyer isn't an Australian citizen or permanent resident, and the first home relief doesn't cover it [5][7]. Your conveyancer confirms the figure on your contract. For the rates in other states, see the stamp duty guide.

Where does the SA stamp duty relief cut out?

It doesn't. In several other states, first home duty help fades out above a price line, so the dearer the home, the less it's worth. South Australia's relief has no price line: on a new home it's worth the whole stamp duty bill, so it grows with the price [6][7].

What this means for you: the relief is worth $21,330 on a $500,000 new home and $37,830 on an $800,000 one [8][13]. Add the $15,000 grant and the gap between buying new and buying established, at the same price, looks like this:

I've owned property before. Am I a first home buyer in SA?

Not if you or your spouse or partner have owned a home in Australia, at any time. Under South Australia's current rules, it doesn't matter whether you lived in it, how long you had it or how long ago you sold it [2]. SA tightened this rule; older contracts were judged differently.

Some things don't count against you for the grant: owning vacant land, owning a home overseas, or owning commercial, industrial or farming land [2]. RevenueSA's stamp duty relief asks whether you've held an interest in a home in Australia [5]; the lines on land and overseas homes are on the grant's page, so check the relief's own rule before relying on them.

What this means for you: someone who sold a home in Australia more than 10 years ago is out of the state's help in SA, but can still use the 5% Deposit Scheme, which looks back 10 years [9].

Who counts as a first home buyer? Four different tests

There isn't one definition of a first home buyer in South Australia. The grant, the stamp duty relief, the 5% Deposit Scheme and the First Home Super Saver Scheme each ask a different question about what you've owned before.

What this means for you: passing one test tells you nothing about the others. A buyer who owns only a block of vacant land can still pass the grant's test, yet fail the 5% Deposit Scheme's and the First Home Super Saver's, because both count land [2][9][11]. That's why we check every test against your history before you sign.

I got a first home grant in another state. Can I get SA's?

No. A first home owner grant from any state or territory rules you out of South Australia's grant, and first home stamp duty relief, or the same help, from any state or territory rules you out of SA's relief [2][7].

The exception is help you've paid back: RevenueSA says you may apply again if it was repaid, with any penalty [2][7].

Buying land to build on in South Australia

Buying vacant land to build your first home on gets South Australia's stamp duty relief on the land, at any price [6][7]. You must build a fixed home on it that's fit to live in [6].

The grant doesn't apply to the land itself. Once you sign a contract to build the home, the build can get the $15,000 grant [1].

The live-in rules run from different points. For the grant, your 6 months in a row start within 12 months of the home being ready to live in [1]. For the relief on land, they start within 12 months of when you can lawfully use the home as a residence, or 36 months from settlement on the land, whichever comes first [5].

What this means for you: the 36 months is the build deadline that counts. A slow builder or a long approval can push you past it, so allow for delays when you sign.

Building, house and land, or off the plan: the federal rules

If you'll use the 5% Deposit Scheme on a build, it has its own timetable. The building contract must be signed within 6 months of the loan settling, building must start within 12 months and finish within 36 months, and you move in within 6 months of the occupancy certificate [9]. For land and a build, the land price plus the build cost must stay under the cap [9].

Owner builders are where the rules split. South Australia's grant takes an owner builder [1]. The 5% Deposit Scheme doesn't: the builder must be licensed, insured, at arm's length and on a fixed-price contract [9].

Two more traps: the land has to be titled before the guarantee can be issued, inside the 90-day pre-approval window, and if you already own the vacant land, you can't use the scheme to build on it [9]. What this means for you: buying the land first with SA's relief, then turning to the 5% Deposit Scheme for the build, doesn't work. Line both up before you sign the land contract. See construction loans.

Can first home buyers in SA avoid LMI?

Yes, through the federal 5% Deposit Scheme. It lets a South Australian first home buyer buy with a 5% deposit and no lenders mortgage insurance, because Housing Australia, a government agency, guarantees the lender in place of the insurance [9]. Single parents and legal guardians can buy from a 2% deposit [9].

The scheme has no income cap and no limit on places [9]. It has a ceiling as well as a floor: if you have 20% or more saved after purchase costs such as stamp duty and legal fees, you can't use it [9].

Here's what LMI would cost on a 95% loan for a first home buyer, from one insurer's published rate card [12]. Under the scheme, that cost isn't charged. These are illustrations from one card, not quotes; your premium depends on the insurer, the loan and the lender.

Some lenders also waive LMI for certain professions. See LMI waivers.

What are the price and income caps for SA first home buyers?

South Australia's own help has no price cap and the grant has no income test [1][2][6]. The caps a South Australian first home buyer meets are federal.

For the 5% Deposit Scheme, the cap is $900,000 in Adelaide and $500,000 everywhere else in the state [9]. SA has no regional centre on the scheme's list, so any home outside the Adelaide capital city area is on the $500,000 cap [9]. Both the price you pay and the lender's valuation must be at or under it [9].

What this means for you: in Adelaide, a new home up to $900,000 can get the grant, the full stamp duty relief and the 5% Deposit Scheme together. Outside Adelaide, the line is $500,000: a regional buyer above it can still get the state's help, just not the 5% Deposit Scheme.

Help to Buy and the First Home Super Saver in South Australia

Two more federal schemes are open to South Australian buyers. Help to Buy is shared equity: the government contributes up to 30% of the price of an existing home, or up to 40% of a new one, and you buy with a deposit from 2% [10]. You own the home and share some of its value with the government [10]. There are 10,000 places a year, and the current income limits are $103,000 for a single and $165,000 for joint applicants or a single parent [10]. All applicants must be Australian citizens [10].

The First Home Super Saver Scheme lets you save for a deposit inside your super. You can put in up to $15,000 a year, and up to $50,000 in total, in voluntary contributions, then ask the Australian Taxation Office to release them, with deemed earnings, toward your first home [11]. See Help to Buy and First Home Super Saver.

Can you get the SA grant, the stamp duty relief and a federal scheme together?

Mostly, yes. On a new home you can get the grant and the stamp duty relief on the same purchase, if you apply for each [1][5]. The 5% Deposit Scheme's guide says using it doesn't stop you getting state or territory help [9].

The one firm exclusion: the 5% Deposit Scheme and Help to Buy can't be used together [9]. Help to Buy also rules out state shared equity schemes, loans and guarantees, while stamp duty concessions and grants still apply [10].

What is the whole package worth on a South Australian home?

An illustration, not a client file. A first home buyer pays $650,000 for a newly built home in Adelaide. The grant is $15,000. Stamp duty is nil instead of $29,580. Through the 5% Deposit Scheme, a $32,500 deposit is enough, with no LMI; on one insurer's card, that insurance would otherwise be $27,849 on a 95% loan. That's $72,429 of help on a $650,000 home [1][7][8][9][12][13].

Because SA's relief has no cap, the help grows with the price: on an $850,000 new home in Adelaide, still under the scheme's $900,000 cap, it comes to $91,998 (table). Buy an established home for the same $650,000 and the state's help falls away: no grant, and $29,580 of stamp duty to pay. The 5% Deposit Scheme still applies, so the help is the $27,849 of LMI you don't pay [9][12][13].

RevenueSA explains the state help and the federal sites explain the federal help, so the total on your own price is worth adding up before you sign. See how the schemes fit together.

How much cash do you need to buy your first home in SA?

At least your deposit, plus stamp duty if you buy established, plus your other purchase costs such as legal fees. On a $650,000 home with the 5% Deposit Scheme, the deposit is $32,500 [9][13]. Buy new and there's no stamp duty to add. Buy established and you add $29,580, for $62,080 before other costs [8][13].

The 5% Deposit Scheme's ceiling counts what you have after purchase costs [9]: on a $650,000 home, $130,000 or more left after those costs puts you outside it [13].

What this means for you: an established home doesn't only miss out on the grant. It nearly doubles the cash you need on the day, which can decide whether you buy now or keep saving.

Can the SA grant go towards your deposit?

Not the deposit you pay when you sign the contract. If you need the grant at settlement, or for the first progress payment on a build, you must apply through an approved agent, usually your lender, and it's paid through them [3]. Both come after the deposit is due.

Plan your deposit from your own savings, and treat the grant as money that lands at settlement or later.

How long do you have to live in the home?

Each scheme sets its own rule, and the strictest one you use is the one that counts.

What this means for you: if you use the 5% Deposit Scheme, plan to move in within 6 months of settlement, not the year SA allows, and don't plan to rent the home out later while the guarantee is in place [9].

Buying with a partner, a friend or family in SA

For the grant, your spouse or partner's past ownership counts, even if they aren't on the contract, so a partner who has owned a home in Australia rules you both out [2]. At least one buyer must be a citizen or permanent resident [2].

The 5% Deposit Scheme takes exactly two people on a joint application, and they don't have to be a couple: partners, friends or family members. Both must pass every test, and three or more buyers can't use it [9]. The First Home Super Saver works person by person, so a couple can each use their own savings for the same home [11].

A parent can help in another way, by putting up part of their home's equity as security. See guarantor home loans.

Do you need to be a citizen to get first home buyer help in SA?

It depends on the scheme. South Australia's grant needs at least one buyer to be a citizen or permanent resident, or a New Zealand citizen on a Special Category visa [2]. The 5% Deposit Scheme needs a citizen or permanent resident [9], and Help to Buy needs every buyer to be a citizen [10].

For stamp duty, a buyer who isn't a citizen or permanent resident can pay South Australia's 7% foreign ownership surcharge, and the first home relief isn't applied to it [5][7]. See home loans for visa holders.

How much can a first home buyer borrow in South Australia?

What you can borrow comes from your income, your debts and your living costs, and each lender works it out its own way. The grant and the stamp duty relief don't change what a lender works out you can repay; they change how much cash you need on the day.

That's why the order matters: work out what lenders will lend you first, then fit the schemes to the price. See how much can I borrow.

What does a broker cost you?

How a broker is paid, and the rule Money Brain holds against it, is set out in full on its own page: what a mortgage broker costs.

Your first move

You've read the rules. Now there's one question left: on the home you want, at the price you'll pay, which of the grant, the stamp duty relief and the federal schemes do you actually get, and in what order do you do it?

That depends on new, established or land, where in South Australia you're buying, what you and your partner have owned, and what you've saved, and it's what Money Brain works out before anything goes to a lender.