First home grants and finance for your new home

Building a new home is one of the few ways left to open up real government help as a first home buyer. Most of the support on offer in Australia right now is aimed squarely at people building or buying a new dwelling to live in — which is exactly what a Systembuilt home is. This page sets out what’s available in South Australia, Tasmania and New South Wales, and how the different pieces fit together.

One thing to get clear first, because it saves confusion later: “grants” is a loose word for three quite different kinds of help.

A grant is cash paid toward your build. The state First Home Owner Grant is the main one, and it’s the only item here that’s money in your hand.
A stamp duty concession is a tax you don’t have to pay. There’s no cheque, but on a new home it can be worth more than the grant itself.
A federal assistance scheme helps you borrow or buy with less deposit. Again, no cash changes hands — it lowers the barrier to getting the loan.

Most first home buyers building a new home use a combination of all three. How that combination works depends on which state you’re building in.

What happened to the HomeBuilder grant?

If you’re here looking for the HomeBuilder grant, it’s gone. HomeBuilder was a one-off national scheme during the pandemic and it closed to new applications in April 2021. It isn’t coming back. The good news is that the schemes below are current, and for a first home buyer they add up to more than HomeBuilder ever did.

South Australia

If you’re building your first home in SA, three things line up in your favour:

First Home Owner Grant — $15,000. Paid on a new home, with no property value cap.
No stamp duty. First home buyers pay no stamp duty on a new home or on vacant land they’re building on, with no price cap. On a typical new home that saving runs into five figures — often more than the grant itself.
The federal 5% Deposit Scheme (below), which lets you build with a 5% deposit and skip lenders’ mortgage insurance.

How it stacks in SA: a first home buyer building here can take the $15,000 grant, pay no stamp duty at all, and get into the build with a 5% deposit. South Australia is currently the most generous of the three states once you count the stamp duty saving, not just the grant.

Tasmania

Tasmania has the largest cash grant in the country at the moment:

First Home Owner Grant — $20,000. Doubled from $10,000 in 2026 and running across 2026–27. It applies to building or buying a new home, and if you’re building, the home needs to be finished within 24 months. No property value cap.
The federal 5% Deposit Scheme applies here too.
Stamp duty: Tasmania no longer offers a first home buyer stamp duty concession — that ended on 30 June 2026. So the $20,000 grant is the headline benefit.

How it stacks in Tasmania: the $20,000 grant plus a 5% deposit (skipping mortgage insurance) is the main combination. There’s no stamp duty relief to add on top, but the grant is twice what it was, which offsets a good part of that.

New South Wales

First Home Owner Grant — $10,000. For a new home valued up to $600,000, or a house-and-land package up to $750,000.
Stamp duty: a full exemption on a home worth up to $800,000, and a reduced rate between $800,000 and $1,000,000.
The federal 5% Deposit Scheme applies, with a higher price cap than SA or TAS.

How it stacks in NSW: for a new home under $600,000 you can combine the $10,000 grant, a full stamp duty exemption and the 5% deposit scheme — a strong result for a modest new build, which is where most of our NSW work sits.

The federal schemes, in a bit more detail

These run nationwide, on top of your state grant and stamp duty position.

The 5% Deposit Scheme (previously called the First Home Guarantee). You buy with a 5% deposit and the government guarantees enough of the loan that you avoid lenders’ mortgage insurance, which can save several thousand dollars. Since October 2025 there are no income limits and no cap on the number of places. Property price caps apply: in round terms, $900,000 in Adelaide and $500,000 in regional SA, $700,000 in Hobart and $550,000 in regional Tasmania, and $1.5 million in Sydney and $800,000 in the rest of NSW.
Help to Buy is a shared-equity scheme. The government contributes up to 40% of the price of a new home (30% for an existing one) in exchange for owning that share, so you need a smaller loan; you buy the government’s share back over time. Applications are open, with income and price caps. It’s an alternative route to the 5% Deposit Scheme rather than something you’d use alongside it — your lender or broker can tell you which suits.
The First Home Super Saver Scheme lets you save a deposit inside your super with a tax advantage. It isn’t build-specific, but it’s worth knowing about if you’re saving toward a first home.

Do you qualify?

The grants and the federal schemes are for first home buyers building a home to live in as their main residence. A few things to be aware of:

They’re for your principal place of residence, not an investment property, holiday home or granny flat.
The First Home Owner Grant is for new homes — which a Systembuilt build is — but transportable and relocatable dwellings can carry specific conditions in each state, so it’s worth confirming your particular build qualifies before you count on it.
The federal schemes have income and price caps, and you generally can’t have owned property in Australia before.

We build the home; we’re not licensed to give financial advice. The surest way to confirm what you’re entitled to is a quick check with the relevant state revenue office (RevenueSA, the State Revenue Office of Tasmania, or Revenue NSW) and a conversation with your lender or a mortgage broker. We’re happy to talk through how the grants work in practice for the kind of home you’re considering.

What your Systembuilt home will cost?

Every build is quoted on its design, your site and the finishes you choose, so there’s no single price — but we’ll give you a clear, itemised quote with no surprises, and we’ll factor the grants and schemes above into the picture so you can see the real out-of-pocket cost.

Talk to us about your build

Tell us what you’re after and where you’re building, and we’ll put together a quote and walk you through the grants and finance that apply to you.

Request a quote — Call 1300 073 995.

(Grants and finance figures correct as at 16 October 2026.)

Frequently asked questions

Is the HomeBuilder grant still available?

No. HomeBuilder was a temporary national scheme that closed to new applications in April 2021 and hasn’t been renewed. First home buyers building a new home can still access the state First Home Owner Grant and the federal deposit and shared-equity schemes.

Which state has the biggest first home grant?

As at 2026, Tasmania, at $20,000 for a new home. South Australia’s grant is $15,000 but it also waives stamp duty on new homes, which often makes SA the better overall position once that saving is counted. New South Wales offers $10,000 plus a stamp duty exemption up to $800,000.

Can I get the grant for a modular or transportable home?

A new home you build to live in generally qualifies for the First Home Owner Grant as a new home. Transportable and relocatable dwellings can have specific conditions that vary by state, so confirm your particular build with the relevant state revenue office before relying on it.

Can I combine the grant with the 5% deposit scheme?

Yes. The state First Home Owner Grant, any stamp duty concession and the federal 5% Deposit Scheme can generally be used together. The 5% Deposit Scheme and Help to Buy are alternative routes, so you’d usually choose one of those rather than both.

Do granny flats or holiday homes qualify?

No. These schemes are for a home you’ll live in as your principal place of residence, not a second home, holiday home, granny flat or investment property.