First home buyer stamp duty in NSW
How the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme removes or trims transfer duty, who qualifies, and what the residence rule asks of you after settlement.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Methodology
A first home buyer in New South Wales pays no transfer duty on a home valued up to $800,000, or on vacant land up to $350,000, under the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme (FHBAS) run by Revenue NSW. Above those figures the relief does not stop at once: it tapers, so a $900,000 home costs a first buyer $19,594 instead of $34,687, and the benefit disappears at $1,000,000 for a home and $450,000 for land. To qualify you must be an individual aged 18 or over, neither you nor your spouse may have owned residential property in Australia, and at least one buyer must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident. You then have to move in within 12 months of settlement and stay for 12 continuous months. A new home priced up to $600,000 can also attract the $10,000 First Home Owner (New Homes) Grant.
What the first home concession is worth in your state
First home buyer pays
$0
| Same purchase, not a first home | $25,687 |
| Saved by being a first home buyer | $25,687 |
| Rule applied | First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme: full exemption |
Three price zones, two property types
The FHBAS divides every first purchase into three zones. Below the exemption threshold the duty is nil. Between the threshold and the cap it is reduced. At the cap and above, the ordinary scale applies and being a first buyer makes no difference to the duty. The thresholds are not the same for an established or new dwelling and for vacant land on which you will build, and the land figures are far lower than the home figures.
| Home (new or existing) | Vacant land to build on | |
|---|---|---|
| No duty up to | $800,000 | $350,000 |
| Concession up to | $1,000,000 | $450,000 |
| Duty at the threshold if you were not eligible | $30,187 | $10,307 |
The taper, worked out the way Revenue NSW does it
Inside the concession zone there is no separate rate table. The office starts with the full duty on your price, then subtracts a slice of the duty that would apply at the exemption threshold. The slice is largest just above the threshold and shrinks evenly to nothing at the cap. Written out for a home: saving = duty on $800,000 × ($1,000,000 − price) ÷ $200,000. For land, swap in $350,000 and $450,000.
We ran that formula against the Revenue NSW First Home Buyers Assistance calculator at eight prices on 5 October 2026 and it agreed to the cent each time. The table below comes from the same engine.
| Price of the home | First home buyer | Previous owner | FHBAS saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| $700,000 | $0 | $25,687 | $25,687 |
| $800,000 | $0 | $30,187 | $30,187 |
| $850,000 | $9,797 | $32,437 | $22,640 |
| $900,000 | $19,594 | $34,687 | $15,094 |
| $950,000 | $29,390 | $36,937 | $7,547 |
| $990,000 | $37,228 | $38,737 | $1,509 |
Read the last column from top to bottom. At $800,000 the scheme saves $30,187; at $900,000 it saves $15,094, half of that; at $990,000 only $1,509 is left. Each extra $10,000 on the contract inside this band therefore costs the buyer the ordinary duty on $10,000 plus about $1,509 of lost concession, which is why negotiating a few thousand dollars off a price just above $800,000 is worth more to a first buyer than to anyone else.
Land: lower numbers, same mechanics
On vacant land the duty itself is modest, but the window is narrow. A $350,000 block carries no duty for an eligible buyer, a $400,000 block carries $7,034, and at $450,000 the concession is gone: $14,437, exactly what a previous owner pays.
Duty on a block of land
First home buyer building
$7,034
| Buyer who is not a first home buyer | $12,187 |
| Investor | $12,187 |
| Rule for the first home buyer | First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme: concessional rate |
Who the scheme is for
Revenue NSW's scheme page lists the conditions. Every buyer claiming it must:
- be an individual, not a company or a trustee, and be 18 or older (the office can waive the age rule);
- never have owned residential property in Australia, and neither may a spouse or de facto partner;
- not have received the benefit of the scheme before;
- buy with at least one co-buyer who is an Australian citizen or permanent resident, or be one.
Ownership overseas does not count against you; the test is about Australian residential property. A foreign co-buyer can sit alongside an eligible citizen, but the scheme does not touch the 9 % surcharge charged on that person's share, which is covered on the NSW surcharge purchaser duty page.
The residence promise
For contracts dated 1 July 2023 or later, you must move in within 12 months of settlement and then live there for 12 months without a break. Members of the Australian Defence Force are exempt from this part. Renting the place out from the start, or leaving before the period runs, breaks the condition the concession was granted on.
Shared equity and buying with family
A first home buyer who cannot fund the purchase alone can still use the FHBAS if the eligible buyers together take at least half of the property. The concession is then applied to their share only. Shared equity is not available when the co-buyer is a spouse or partner who fails the tests.
Adding the grant on a new home
The First Home Owner (New Homes) Grant is a separate payment of $10,000. It covers a new home with a value up to $600,000, or land plus a building contract with a combined value up to $750,000. You have to occupy the home for 12 continuous months starting within 12 months, and apply within 12 months of settlement. A new $600,000 apartment is therefore duty free and brings $10,000 back; a new $650,000 one is still duty free but misses the grant. Established homes never qualify for it. The national picture is on the grant comparison page.
Paying, and what happens off the plan
When the price is above the exemption, the reduced duty is due on the usual NSW timetable: three months from the contract, or at settlement if earlier. An off-the-plan first home can push that date out by up to 12 more months; the conditions differ from the FHBAS and are on the NSW off-the-plan page.