First home buyer grants and schemes in WA, compared

A first home buyer in Perth can get the $10,000 First Home Owner Grant on a new home and pay no transfer duty on a home worth up to $600,000. On top of that, WA buyers can use a 5% deposit through the 5% Deposit Scheme, or a 2% deposit through Help to Buy or Keystart. The grant and the duty concession depend on you and the property, not on who lends to you. The pairing to watch is Help to Buy with a Keystart loan: Help to Buy’s rules exclude state government loans and shared equity schemes.

Several of these figures changed on 7 May 2026. Some pages still quote the old caps, so check the date on anything you read, including this page.

Every WA first home buyer scheme at a glance

Scheme	Run by	What you get	Price cap, Perth	Price cap, rest of WA	Income limit	New or established
First Home Owner Grant	WA Government (RevenueWA)	$10,000 payment	$800,000	$800,000 south of the 26th parallel, $1,000,000 north	None	New or substantially renovated only
First home owner rate of duty	WA Government (RevenueWA)	No transfer duty to $600,000, reduced duty to $800,000	$800,000	$800,000	None	Both
5% Deposit Scheme	Australian Government (Housing Australia)	Buy with 5% deposit, no lenders mortgage insurance	$850,000	$600,000	None	Both
Help to Buy	Australian Government (Housing Australia)	Government owns up to 30% (existing) or 40% (new) of the home, 2% deposit	$850,000	$600,000	$103,000 single, $165,000 joint or single parent	Both
Keystart Low Deposit Home Loan	Keystart (WA Government supported)	Deposit of 2% or $2,000, whichever is higher, no lenders mortgage insurance	See Keystart	See Keystart	See Keystart	Both
Keystart Urban Connect Shared Equity	Keystart and the Housing Authority	Housing Authority contributes up to 35% or $250,000	$800,000	$800,000	$128,000 single, $197,000 couples or families	New builds and off-the-plan only

Sources: WA Government, about the first home owner grant, first home owner rate of duty fact sheet, 5% Deposit Scheme price caps, Help to Buy, Help to Buy 2026-27 income limits, Keystart Low Deposit Home Loan, Keystart Urban Connect vs Help to Buy. Keystart’s Urban Connect figures are as published by Keystart at May 2026.

The $10,000 First Home Owner Grant

The First Home Owner Grant is a one-off payment of $10,000 from the WA Government to people buying or building their first new home. If the home costs less than $10,000, the grant is the amount paid instead. There is no income or assets test (WA Government).

The grant is for new homes only, or homes that have been substantially renovated. An established home does not qualify, although it can still get the stamp duty concession below.

To be eligible:

• You are 18 or over, and at least 1 applicant is an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
• Neither you nor your spouse or de facto partner has received the grant or the first home owner rate of duty anywhere in Australia before.
• You have not owned and lived in a home in Australia under the ownership rules on the WA Government eligibility page.
• For contracts or building work starting on or after 7 May 2026, the total value is $800,000 or less south of the 26th parallel, which covers all of Perth, or $1,000,000 or less north of it. Before 7 May 2026 the southern cap was $750,000.

2 people buying together get 1 First Home Owner Grant, not 2. You lodge the application (form F-FHOG1) with an approved financial institution, usually your lender, or directly with RevenueWA (WA Government). You must apply within 12 months of completion, and you must live in the home as your main residence for at least 6 continuous months, starting within 12 months of completion. Miss that without telling RevenueWA and you may have to repay the grant with penalties.

The first home owner grant WA glossary entry has the short definition.

Stamp duty: no transfer duty up to $600,000

The first home owner rate of duty is a WA stamp duty concession that cuts or removes transfer duty for first home buyers. The concession uses the same eligibility rules as the First Home Owner Grant, but it also applies to established homes (WA Government duties fact sheet).

For agreements entered into on or after 7 May 2026:

• Home and land: no duty up to $600,000. Between $600,000 and $800,000, duty is $16.15 for every $100 above $600,000. Above $800,000, the concession does not apply.
• Vacant land to build on: no duty up to $450,000. Between $450,000 and $550,000, duty is $20.14 for every $100 above $450,000.

A worked example from those rates: a first home bought for $700,000 is $100,000 over the $600,000 threshold. That is 1,000 lots of $100, at $16.15 each, so the duty is $16,150. A home bought for $550,000 pays none.

The date that counts is the date you sign, not the date you settle. If RevenueWA has not approved your application before settlement, you pay duty at the general rate on the day and apply for a refund afterwards. Foreign transfer duty still applies to any share bought by a foreign person, even when the concession applies.

A separate off-the-plan duty concession, open to all buyers, covers new apartments and homes bought off the plan under agreements signed up to 30 June 2028 (WA Government). Check the current thresholds on that page before relying on it.

To estimate your own figure, use the stamp duty calculator WA. Duty is only one of the costs on top of the deposit; the upfront costs guide covers the rest.

The 5% Deposit Scheme: 5% down, no LMI

The 5% Deposit Scheme is an Australian Government guarantee that lets a first home buyer purchase with a 5% deposit without paying lenders mortgage insurance. The government guarantees part of the loan to the lender. There are no income caps and no waiting list (firsthomebuyers.gov.au).

In WA the price cap is $850,000 in Perth and $600,000 in the rest of the state (price caps). On a $600,000 home, a 5% deposit is $30,000.

You qualify if you are an Australian citizen or permanent resident, 18 or over, a first home buyer or someone who has not owned property in Australia in the last 10 years, and you will live in the home. The loan must be principal and interest from a Participating Lender. You cannot apply to Housing Australia directly, only through a Participating Lender, and once pre-approved you have 90 days to sign a contract.

Help to Buy: the government owns a share

Help to Buy is an Australian Government shared equity scheme. The government contributes up to 30% of the price of an existing home or up to 40% of a new one, so your loan is smaller, your deposit can be as low as 2%, and there is no lenders mortgage insurance (Help to Buy).

The trade-off is that the government’s share moves with the value of the home. When you sell, or when you buy the government out, you pay back its share at the value at that time, so it shares in any gain or loss. There are 10,000 places a year.

For 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 the income limits are $103,000 for a single applicant and $165,000 for joint applicants or single parents, based on your 2026 Notice of Assessment. The Help to Buy income limits are indexed every 1 July (income limits). All applicants must be Australian citizens, and you cannot own any property in Australia or overseas. In WA the price cap is $850,000 in Perth and $600,000 elsewhere.

Keystart: WA’s own low deposit lender

Keystart is a WA Government supported lender that lends only in WA. Its Low Deposit Home Loan needs a deposit of 2% or $2,000, whichever is higher, and charges no lenders mortgage insurance. Loans are principal and interest for owner-occupiers, and you do not have to be a first home buyer, as long as you own no other home or land when you apply (Keystart).

Keystart can put the First Home Owner Grant toward your deposit on a new build. Keystart advances the $10,000 to your settlement agent before RevenueWA pays, then charges interest on that advance until the grant arrives, which Keystart says is about 2 weeks after the first progress payment to your builder (Keystart).

Keystart’s income and property price limits vary by loan and by region, so read them on Keystart’s site rather than from a summary.

Keystart also offers Urban Connect, a shared equity loan in which the Housing Authority owns up to 35% of the home, capped at $250,000. Urban Connect is limited to new builds and off-the-plan homes.

Which schemes can you combine?

The $10,000 First Home Owner Grant and the duty concession (no duty up to $600,000) are tested on you and the property, not on your lender. Help to Buy’s own rules say you can still use stamp duty concessions and grants alongside it.

The rule that catches people: Help to Buy cannot be used with help from state or territory shared equity schemes, loans or guarantees. In WA that rules out pairing Help to Buy with Keystart’s Urban Connect shared equity loan, and Keystart publishes the two side by side as alternatives. Keystart is itself a WA Government supported lender, so check with Keystart and with your Help to Buy lender before assuming any Keystart loan can sit alongside Help to Buy.

Two Perth examples, worked through

A newly built home bought for $700,000 on a single contract, with a 5% deposit. The home is new and under the $800,000 cap, so the $10,000 grant applies. Transfer duty is $16,150 at the first home owner rate (the $700,000 example above). If you buy the land and sign a separate building contract instead, duty is worked out on the land under the vacant land rates, so run your own numbers through the duties fact sheet. The 5% deposit is $35,000, and the price is under the 5% Deposit Scheme’s $850,000 Perth cap, so there is no lenders mortgage insurance if you use a Participating Lender.

An established apartment for $550,000. No grant, because the home is established. No transfer duty, because it is under $600,000. From there it depends on you. Under the 5% Deposit Scheme the deposit is $27,500. Under Help to Buy the minimum deposit is 2%, or $11,000, and the government could own up to 30% of an existing home, up to $165,000 here, if your income is under the limit and every applicant is an Australian citizen.

Which WA deposit scheme fits you

The right deposit scheme for a WA first home buyer depends mostly on income, citizenship and whether you will share ownership.

• Your income is above the Help to Buy limit ($103,000 single, $165,000 joint in 2026-27): the 5% Deposit Scheme has no income cap.
• One of you is a permanent resident, not a citizen: Help to Buy is out; the 5% Deposit Scheme and Keystart accept permanent residents.
• You do not want the government to own part of the home: the 5% Deposit Scheme or a Keystart Low Deposit Home Loan, where you own all of it.
• You have owned a home before: see the FAQ below; the rules differ by scheme.
• The home is outside Perth: check the lower $600,000 caps for the 5% Deposit Scheme and Help to Buy.

Confirm your own combination with the lender before you sign. Each scheme is approved separately.

When to apply, and the timing traps

Timing decides whether a WA first home buyer gets the First Home Owner Grant and duty concession at settlement or waits for a refund.

• Before you sign: get pre-approval. Under the 5% Deposit Scheme the 90-day clock to sign a contract starts at pre-approval.
• Before settlement: lodge the First Home Owner Grant or duty pre-approval so the concession is applied at settlement. If it is not approved in time you pay the full duty and claim a refund later.
• Within 12 months of completion: apply for the First Home Owner Grant if you have not already, and start living in the home.

2 mistakes cost WA buyers the grant or concession after they have received it. The first is renting the home out before the 6 continuous months of living in it are up, which can mean repaying the grant and paying duty at the general rate. The second is relying on a price cap from an old article: the grant and duty caps both changed on 7 May 2026.

How a broker fits in

423 of the 434 Perth broker businesses we score are listed for first home buyer loans. You do not need a broker to apply for the grant or the duty concession, but the 5% Deposit Scheme and Help to Buy are only available through participating lenders, so the lender you choose decides which schemes you can reach. Ask any broker which participating lenders they work with, and why they are recommending one scheme over another. Our questions to ask a mortgage broker has the full list.

When you are ready, compare Perth first home buyer mortgage brokers, ranked on their Google reviews. Sponsored placements are labelled and never change the order. If a parent is thinking of guaranteeing the loan instead, read being a guarantor for your child’s first home loan first.

Is there a $40,000 first home grant in WA?

No. The WA First Home Owner Grant is $10,000 (WA Government). Some Perth builders advertise larger totals that add their own promotion to the $10,000 government grant. That extra money comes from the builder, under the builder’s conditions.

Can an established home get the WA grant?

No. The WA First Home Owner Grant is for new or substantially renovated homes. An established home can still get the first home owner rate of duty, which means no transfer duty up to $600,000.

Can previous home owners use any WA scheme?

Previous home owners can use some WA schemes but not others. The WA First Home Owner Grant and the first home owner rate of duty are out if you have received either before or owned and lived in a home under the ownership rules. The 5% Deposit Scheme accepts people who have not owned property in Australia in the last 10 years. Keystart accepts previous owners who own no home or land now. Help to Buy does not accept anyone who owns property in Australia or overseas.

Do first home buyers pay stamp duty in WA?

Not on a home worth up to $600,000, for agreements signed on or after 7 May 2026. Between $600,000 and $800,000 you pay reduced duty. Above $800,000 the concession does not apply.

Can a couple each get the WA grant?

The WA First Home Owner Grant pays 1 grant per purchase, so a couple buying together gets $10,000 between them, not $20,000.

Checked against WA Government, Housing Australia and Keystart sources on 26 September 2026. This is general information, not financial advice. It does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. Scheme rules and figures change, so check the linked source before you rely on them.