How much is the first home buyers grant in NSW?
It is $10,000, paid once per eligible transaction, for a home that has never been lived in or sold as a residence. Substantially renovated homes can qualify too.
The caps are the catch. Buying new, the price must not exceed $600,000. Building, the land plus the build contract must come in at or under $750,000 combined. In much of Sydney those caps rule out houses and point the grant towards new units, townhouses and house and land packages further out. To qualify you must be over 18, buying as an individual, at least one buyer must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident, and you need to move in within 12 months and live there for a continuous 12 months.
Do first home buyers pay stamp duty in NSW?
Often, no. Under the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme, first home buyers pay no transfer duty at all on new or established homes up to $800,000, and a concessional rate between $800,000 and $1 million. Vacant land is exempt up to $350,000, with a concession to $450,000.
On an $800,000 purchase that is roughly $31,000 you are not paying, which for most buyers beats the grant several times over. The same live-in rules apply: move in within 12 months, stay 12 continuous months, and you cannot have owned residential property in Australia before.
Can I buy with a 5 per cent deposit and no LMI?
Yes, through the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, the expanded First Home Guarantee. Since 1 October 2025 the income caps and yearly place limits are gone, and the property price cap for Sydney and NSW regional centres is $1.5 million, with $800,000 across the rest of the state.
The government guarantees part of your loan so you can buy with as little as 5 per cent deposit without paying lenders mortgage insurance, the one-off cost that normally applies when your deposit is under 20 per cent. Single parents can enter with 2 per cent. You apply through participating lenders, not the government, and not every lender is on the panel, which is one reason the lender choice matters more than the advertising suggests.
There is also Help to Buy, a shared equity scheme where the government contributes up to 30 per cent of the price of an existing home or 40 per cent of a new build in exchange for a stake in the property. It has income caps of $103,000 for singles and $165,000 for couples this financial year, NSW price caps of $1.3 million in the capital and major regional centres and $800,000 elsewhere, and limited places, so it suits a narrower group.
Can I combine the grant, the duty exemption and the deposit scheme?
Yes, if you qualify for each on its own terms, and that combination is where the real money is. A nurse and her partner buying a new $590,000 townhouse could take the $10,000 grant, pay no stamp duty, and buy with a 5 per cent deposit and no lenders mortgage insurance under the deposit scheme.
The schemes change and the caps move, so treat the figures here as current at August 2026 and check Revenue NSW before contracts. More importantly, eligibility for the schemes is not the same as eligibility for the loan. Every lender assesses income differently, especially shift allowances and overtime, and the figures any calculator gives you are a guide only until a full assessment is done.
Talk it through
Working out which schemes you qualify for, which lenders offer them and what you can actually borrow is one conversation, not three. That is what we do for first home buyer loans: one clear answer on what is possible and a plain English path to get there. Call 1300 112 355. A real person answers, 24 hours a day.