ACT Home Buyer Concession Scheme
Canberra dropped both the income test and the value limit on 1 July 2026, so an eligible buyer now pays no conveyance duty at all.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Methodology
From 1 July 2026 the ACT Home Buyer Concession Scheme charges no conveyance duty to an eligible buyer, with no household income test and no limit on the property's value. The old ceiling of $1,020,000 has gone, so a $1,400,000 house in the inner north is as exempt as a $500,000 flat in Belconnen. The scheme is wider than a first home concession: what it asks is that no buyer has held an interest in any property, anywhere, during the 5 years before the contract. A former owner who sold six years ago can qualify. Buyers must be individuals aged 18 or over and must live in the home for one year, starting within a year of settlement. New homes, established homes and residential land are all covered. The saving equals the owner-occupier duty the buyer would otherwise pay: $19,208 at $750,000, $33,958 at $1,000,000. The ACT stopped paying a First Home Owner Grant in 2019.
Investor or owner-occupier: the duty gap
Investor pays
$17,880
| Owner-occupier, not first home | $14,888 |
| Gap | $2,992 |
| Owner-occupier rule | Owner-occupier conveyance duty rates |
Five years without property, not "never owned"
Most first home schemes ask whether you have ever owned a home. The ACT asks a narrower question: did any buyer hold an interest in property, of any kind and in any place, during the 5 years before the contract? That window is what makes the scheme unusual. A divorced parent who transferred their share of the family home a decade ago, a returning expatriate whose overseas flat was sold years back, a couple who sold a farm before moving to Canberra and have rented since: each can qualify, provided the 5-year gap is clean for every person on the contract.
The flip side is that a small holding still counts. An interest in an investment unit interstate, a share of a holiday house, or land held overseas inside the window will rule a buyer out, because the rule covers property anywhere.
What changed on 1 July 2026
Until 30 June 2026 the scheme had two filters that blocked many buyers: a household income test and a property value limit of $1,020,000. Both were removed for contracts from 1 July 2026. For an eligible buyer the result is now nothing at all, whatever the price.
| Price | Owner-occupier duty without the scheme | With the scheme | Non-owner-occupier duty |
|---|---|---|---|
| $450,000 | $6,708 | $0 | $9,700 |
| $600,000 | $12,728 | $0 | $15,720 |
| $750,000 | $19,208 | $0 | $22,200 |
| $900,000 | $28,058 | $0 | $31,050 |
| $1,020,000 | $35,238 | $0 | $38,230 |
| $1,200,000 | $46,758 | $0 | $49,750 |
| $1,600,000 | $72,640 | $0 | $72,640 |
The $1,020,000 row is the old boundary. A buyer just above it used to pay full owner-occupier duty; now that buyer pays nothing, and so does the buyer at $1,600,000, where duty would otherwise be $72,640. Above $1,455,000 the owner-occupier table switches to a flat 4.54 % of the whole value, which is why the saving keeps climbing.
The conditions, in the ACT Revenue Office's terms
The list is short. Buyers must be individuals, not a company or a trust, and each must be at least 18. None may have held an interest in property in the 5 years before the contract. The property must be a home, new or established, or residential land. And the buyers must live in it for one year, beginning within one year of settlement. Nothing in the 2026-27 version looks at income, at the price, or at whether the dwelling is new.
The residence year is the condition with the longest tail. On land it means the home has to be finished and occupied inside that first year after settlement, which is a tight schedule for a custom build.
How much it is worth against an investor purchase
The ACT runs two conveyance duty tables: owner-occupier rates and higher rates for everyone else. The calculator above sets them side by side for any price. For an eligible buyer under the scheme, the relevant comparison is with the owner-occupier column, since that is what a home buyer outside the scheme pays. At $700,000 the gap between the scheme and an investor buying the same house is $20,040; between the scheme and an ineligible owner-occupier, $17,048.
Canberra against the states for a first purchase
Combined with the end of the value limit, the scheme puts the ACT at the bottom of the national table for many first purchases. The calculator below lists, for the price you enter, which jurisdictions charge an eligible first home buyer nothing. At $1,000,000 on an established home, the ACT charges $0, New South Wales $39,187 and Victoria $55,000.
First home buyer in 2026-27: duty in every state
States charging nothing
ACT, NSW
| Queensland | $10,925 |
| Western Australia | $24,225 |
| Tasmania | $28,935 |
| South Australia | $35,080 |
Two cautions. The ACT has no First Home Owner Grant since 1 July 2019, so a new home buyer in Queensland or the Northern Territory may come out ahead once the grant is counted. And the ACT Revenue Office's calculator does not ask whether a buyer is foreign, so no surcharge is shown here; that is a description of the official tool, not advice that none can ever apply.
A buyer who missed out before July 2026
Consider a couple who looked at a $1,150,000 house in Ainslie in early 2026. Their combined income was above the old threshold and the price above $1,020,000, so the scheme was closed to them on two counts. Signing the same contract after 1 July 2026, with neither of them holding property in the previous 5 years, they pay no conveyance duty instead of $43,558.
Other ACT exemptions
Buyers who do not meet the 5-year test may still have an exemption open to them: the off-the-plan and newly unit-titled exemptions for apartments and townhouses, or the Pensioner Duty Concession Scheme. Each has its own conditions, set out on its page.