Western Australia's first home help: A$10,000 grant, duty rate, Keystart

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Kooky

Builder of Shaka, the payment router that pays every agent their commission on closing date.

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A first home in Western Australia can attract help from four separate directions, and each one has its own rulebook, its own office and its own deadline. The grant pays for new homes only. The duty concession reaches established homes as well. A smaller grant for buying costs works the other way round and leaves new builds out. The state's own lender sets its terms separately again. A buyer who assumes that qualifying for one means qualifying for all of them can lose money that was available, or receive money that later has to be repaid.

This guide sets out what the State's published pages say about each scheme as at October 2026: the First Home Owner Grant and its price caps on either side of the 26th parallel, the first home owner rate of transfer duty and the thresholds that changed in 2024, 2025 and 2026, the Home Buyers Assistance Account, and Keystart's low-deposit lending. The worked examples are computed from the published rates and are labelled as examples.

Department of Treasury and Finance fact sheets (updated July and August 2026) and Consumer Protection's Home Buyers Assistance Account page (updated December 2024).

Four schemes run by three bodies

RevenueWA, the State's revenue office inside the Department of Treasury and Finance, administers the First Home Owner Grant and the first home owner rate of duty. Both rest on the First Home Owner Grant Act 2000: the department's duties fact sheet says eligibility for the duty rate follows that Act, so the two are decided on largely the same tests.

The Home Buyers Assistance Account is a different thing altogether. Consumer Protection administers it, and its page says the money comes from interest earned on real estate agents' trust accounts.

Keystart is a home loan provider that describes itself as an initiative of the Western Australian Government. It lends money; it does not hand out grants. The department's grant page adds that the grant is different from the Australian Government's 5% Deposit Scheme and from the State's Help to Buy Scheme, neither of which is covered here.

The A$10,000 grant: which homes and which transactions

The Department of Treasury and Finance describes the grant as a one-off payment of up to A$10,000 for people buying or building their first new home. Its grant page gives the precise formula: A$10,000, or the consideration paid to buy or build the home if that is less. There is no income test and no assets test.

The grant is available for a new home, or for a home that has undergone substantial renovations. It is not available for established homes. Only one grant is payable per eligible transaction, so two people buying together receive one grant between them, not one each.

The fact sheet recognises three kinds of transaction, and each has its own start and finish:

• A contract to purchase a new home. The transaction commences on the contract date. It is complete when the purchaser becomes entitled to possession, which the fact sheet says is usually settlement.
• A comprehensive home building contract. It commences on the contract date and is complete when the building is ready for occupation as a residence, usually when the keys are handed over.
• An owner-builder project. It commences when the foundation is laid and is complete when the building is ready for occupation as a residence. A movable building bought to be used as a residence is treated as an owner-builder transaction.

The price cap and the 26th parallel

The grant is paid only if the total value of the home and land does not exceed a cap, and the cap depends on where the home is. The dividing line is the 26th parallel of south latitude. According to the fact sheet, all Perth metropolitan areas are on the southern side of it.

For transactions that commenced on or after 7 May 2026, the cap is A$800,000 south of the 26th parallel and A$1,000,000 north of it. For transactions that commenced on or before 6 May 2026, the southern cap is A$750,000 and the northern cap is the same A$1,000,000.

"Total value" is not always the price on the contract. The fact sheet measures it in three ways:

• For the purchase of a home, it is the greater of the consideration paid or the value of the home at the contract date.
• For a building contract, it is the value of the building contract, including variations, plus the value of the land.
• For an owner-builder, it is the unencumbered value of the home at completion plus the value of the land.

A building contract can therefore pass the cap on the day it is signed and exceed it later. Take, as a worked example, a block south of the 26th parallel valued at A$330,000 and a building contract of A$455,000 signed in June 2026. The total value is A$785,000, under the A$800,000 cap. Variations of A$20,000 would lift the total to A$805,000 and over the cap.

Related parties are looked at more closely. In those cases, the fact sheet says, a licensed valuation may be needed, made within three months of the contract being signed for a home purchase, or within three months of the land purchase being signed for a building contract.

Who is eligible, and who is ruled out

The applicant tests in the department's fact sheet are short:

• The applicant must be 18 or over at the time of application. An exemption may be available for applicants under 18.
• At least one applicant must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident at the time of application.
• The applicant must hold a relevant interest, meaning ownership, in the land and own the home in their own capacity. A right of occupancy may qualify.

The exclusions do more of the work, and they extend to the applicant's spouse or de facto partner. A person is not eligible if they, or their spouse or de facto partner, have:

• previously received the grant or the first home owner rate of duty from any Australian jurisdiction;
• owned residential property anywhere in Australia before 1 July 2000;
• owned residential property on or after 1 July 2000 and occupied it as a residence before 1 July 2004; or
• owned residential property on or after 1 July 2000 and occupied it as a residence for a continuous period of six months starting on or after 1 July 2004.

The six-month residence requirement

Each applicant must occupy the home as their principal place of residence for a continuous period of at least six months, and that occupation must start within 12 months of completion. The requirement applies to every applicant, not to one of them on behalf of the others.

The department's lodgement guide lists four situations in which the requirement is not met:

• the property is left vacant for six months;
• the property is being renovated while the applicant lives elsewhere;
• the applicant lives there for less than six months; or
• the applicant does not start living there within 12 months.

A buyer who cannot comply has a duty to say so. The fact sheet requires written notice to the Commissioner within 30 days after the 12-month period ends, or within 30 days of it becoming apparent that the requirement cannot be met, whichever is earlier.

There is a route for circumstances that are unforeseen or beyond the applicant's control. The applicant may ask the Commissioner to reduce the occupation period below six months, to extend the 12-month period for moving in, or to exempt one applicant where two or more applied jointly. Each is a discretion, granted or refused on the individual case.

The fact sheet also records the sanction for dishonesty: knowingly making a false or misleading statement may lead to prosecution and penalties of up to A$20,000. An applicant who disagrees with a decision may lodge a formal objection.

Applying for the grant, and when it is paid

An application can be made once all parties have signed the contract to buy or build, and it must be lodged within 12 months of completion. Owner-builders can apply once the foundations are laid, although the lodgement guide notes that their eligibility is determined only after construction is complete.

There are three ways in. A lender that is an approved agent can help its customer lodge. A buyer can apply to RevenueWA through the online FHOG Application Portal. And a buyer who cannot apply online can use the paper form, F-FHOG1.

The lodgement guide asks applicants to check their bank details, because a payment sent to the wrong account may not be recoverable. Each applicant and their spouse or de facto partner must supply one legible copy of evidence from each category, and all previous names must be declared.

The route chosen affects when the money arrives.

For a traditional build, the guide says the first progress payment is generally the slab going down. For a completed new home, the grant can be part of the settlement funds only when it is lodged through an approved agent.

The first home owner rate of duty since 7 May 2026

Transfer duty is charged on the dutiable value of a property under a sliding scale. The first home owner rate replaces that scale with nil duty up to a threshold and a single concessional rate above it, up to a maximum value. The department's fact sheet stresses that the rate is fixed by the date the agreement is entered into, not by the settlement date.

For agreements entered into on or after 7 May 2026 the fact sheet gives one set of figures for the whole State. For a home, no duty is payable where the dutiable value is A$600,000 or less. From A$600,001 to A$800,000, duty is A$16.15 per A$100, or part of A$100, above A$600,000. For vacant land, no duty is payable up to A$450,000, and from A$450,001 to A$550,000 duty is A$20.14 per A$100, or part, above A$450,000.

The concession reaches further than the grant. A buyer qualifies if they qualify for the grant, or would have qualified except that they bought an established home, paid no consideration, are a resident of the Indian Ocean Territories, or, for agreements from 7 May 2026, bought a home whose total value exceeded the grant's cap. Vacant land can qualify where a home will be built on it.

The general rates published by the department show what the concession is worth. On values from A$360,001 to A$725,000 the general rate is A$11,115 plus A$4.75 per A$100 above A$360,000; above A$725,000 it is A$28,453 plus A$5.15 per A$100 above A$725,000.

The arithmetic behind the second row: A$650,000 is 500 lots of A$100 above the threshold, and 500 times A$16.15 is A$8,075. Under the general rate the same home is A$290,000 above A$360,000, so 2,900 times A$4.75 gives A$13,775, added to A$11,115 for A$24,890. The concession is at its largest exactly at the threshold and shrinks to almost nothing at the A$800,000 ceiling.

Vacant land follows the same pattern. As a worked example, a block bought for A$500,000 in August 2026 by a buyer who has signed a building contract would attract 500 times A$20.14, or A$10,070, against A$17,765 at the general rate (A$11,115 plus 1,400 times A$4.75). At A$550,000 the two rates give the same A$20,140.

How the thresholds moved in 2024, 2025 and 2026

Because the date of the agreement decides which rules apply, a buyer whose contract was signed some time ago needs the figures for that period, not today's. The fact sheet sets out four periods for homes.

The period from 21 March 2025 to 6 May 2026 is the only one that splits the State in two. The lower ceiling applied in the metropolitan local government areas listed in the fact sheet and in the Peel areas of Mandurah, Boddington, Murray and Waroona. From 7 May 2026 the split is gone.

A single home shows the movement. As a worked example, take a dutiable value of A$550,000 in a metropolitan area. Under an agreement made before 9 May 2024 it was above the A$530,000 maximum, so the general rate applied: A$11,115 plus 1,900 times A$4.75, or A$20,140. Between 9 May 2024 and 20 March 2025 the duty was 1,000 times A$15.01, or A$15,010. Between 21 March 2025 and 6 May 2026 it was 500 times A$13.63, or A$6,815, and A$5,945 outside Perth and Peel at A$11.89. From 7 May 2026 it is nil.

Vacant land has three periods. Before 21 March 2025 there was no duty up to A$300,000, then A$13.01 per A$100 up to a maximum land value of A$400,000. From 21 March 2025 to 6 May 2026 the figures were A$350,000, A$15.39 per A$100 and A$450,000. From 7 May 2026 they are A$450,000, A$20.14 per A$100 and A$550,000. For land agreements entered into before 7 May 2026 the fact sheet adds a ceiling on the total value of the home and land, tied to the grant's caps; for agreements from that date it sets no such ceiling.

Claiming the duty rate, refunds and time limits

Applying for the grant also seeks pre-approval for the first home owner rate, on the same form. The lodgement guide adds a warning: pre-approval does not replace the duty assessment, and the buyer must still apply for the transaction to be assessed, or reassessed, at the first home owner rate. The department's transfer duty page says that where pre-approval has not been obtained, duty must be paid at or before settlement.

A buyer who has already paid duty at a higher rate is not shut out. The fact sheet's procedure is to lodge a reassessment request through RevenueWA's Online Services Portal, with a copy of the contract and the Certificate of Duty showing payment. RevenueWA refunds any overpaid duty once the reassessment is done.

The time limits differ by what was bought. For a home, the application must be made within 12 months after the buyer is registered on the title. For vacant land on which a home is to be built, the limit is the later of 12 months after the home is ready to occupy or three months after the grant is paid.

The duty rate carries the same continuing obligations as the grant. A buyer must notify the Commissioner of State Revenue within 30 days of becoming aware that they no longer meet the grant criteria, and the fact sheet says this applies even to a buyer who never received the grant, such as the purchaser of an established home. If the grant has to be repaid, the transaction is reassessed at the general rate. Giving false or misleading information is an offence under the Taxation Administration Act 2003, with a maximum penalty of A$20,000 plus three times the tax that was or might have been avoided.

The Home Buyers Assistance Account

The Home Buyers Assistance Account is still offered, on the terms shown on Consumer Protection's page, last updated on 17 December 2024. It pays up to A$2,000 towards the incidental expenses of buying a first home. The page lists mortgage registration, solicitor or conveyancing fees, valuation fees, inspection fees, establishment fees, mortgage insurance premiums and other fees related to the purchase. A State Government media statement of 19 December 2024 describes the eligible costs more loosely, as including stamp duty, legal fees and mortgage insurance; the list on Consumer Protection's page does not name duty.

The conditions are different from those of the RevenueWA schemes in almost every line:

• The purchase price must be A$500,000 or less. The December 2024 media statement announced that the limit had been raised from A$400,000.
• The applicant must not own, or previously have owned, a home in Western Australia. On a joint purchase where one buyer has owned before, a partial grant may be available if the other criteria are met.
• The home must be bought through a licensed Western Australian real estate agency.
• The purchase must be financed by a lender, and the lender lodges the application on the buyer's behalf.
• The home must be established or partly built when the contract is accepted.
• It must be the buyer's principal place of residence. The buyer must live in it for at least the first 12 months and cannot rent it out in that time.
• Where the home is sold with a fixed-term tenancy in place, the tenancy must end within six months of settlement, and the 12 months of occupation follow.

Applications should be lodged within 90 days of settlement; the page says late lodgements may be accepted in exceptional circumstances.

Set beside the First Home Owner Grant, the two schemes barely overlap. The A$10,000 grant needs a new or substantially renovated home; this one needs a home that is established or partly built, and its occupation period is 12 months, not six. The media statement reported that A$422,297.87 had been distributed to 217 first home buyers in that financial year up to December 2024, an average of about A$1,946 each.

Keystart low-deposit loans, as the lender describes them

Keystart's pages present it as a home loan provider and an initiative of the Western Australian Government. Its pages list several loan products, the Low Deposit Home Loan among them. The features it states are low deposits, no lender's mortgage insurance and no monthly account keeping fees.

For the Low Deposit Home Loan, Keystart gives the minimum deposit as the higher of 2 per cent or A$2,000, and adds that the deposit may vary with location and purchase price. As a worked example, and assuming the 2 per cent is taken on the purchase price, a A$450,000 home would need A$9,000 and a A$90,000 purchase would need the A$2,000 floor, since 2 per cent of that is A$1,800. Keystart says regional and North West properties carry higher price limits together with higher deposit requirements.

The eligibility rules on Keystart's pages are these: the borrower must be over 18, must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident, must live in Western Australia, and must not already own a home or land. The home must be for the borrower to live in, not to rent out. Keystart asks for a stable income or regular employment for at least six months and does not offer interest-only loans or loans for investment property. Its page says subsequent buyers who do not currently own a home or land are eligible too, and that the First Home Owner Grant can be used towards the deposit where the borrower builds a new home.

Income limits apply, set by household type and by location, and there are property price limits for the Perth metropolitan area and higher ones elsewhere. The dollar figures and the interest rates sit in interactive tools on Keystart's pages and were not readable in the text consulted for this guide, so they are not reproduced here.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Agents Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for real estate professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

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