--- title: "First Home Owner Grant NSW 2026" description: "Complete guide to the $10,000 FHOG in New South Wales. Eligibility, stamp duty exemptions, how to apply, and how to maximise your savings." source: HomeBuildBudget sourceUrl: https://homebuildbudget.com/guides/first-home-owner-grant-nsw lastUpdated: 2026-06-16 citationUrl: https://homebuildbudget.com/guides/first-home-owner-grant-nsw --- # First Home Owner Grant NSW 2026 Complete guide to the $10,000 FHOG in New South Wales. Eligibility, stamp duty exemptions, how to apply, and how to maximise your savings. Complete guide to the $10,000 FHOG in New South Wales. Eligibility, stamp duty exemptions, how to apply, and how to maximise your savings. Quick answer: New South Wales offers a $10,000 First Home Owner Grant for eligible first home buyers purchasing or building a new home. The value cap is $600,000 for buying an existing new home, or $750,000 if you’re building. You must be over 18, an Australian citizen or permanent resident, and have never owned residential property in Australia. Move in within 12 months and live there for 12 consecutive months. NSW also provides a full stamp duty exemption on properties up to $800,000 (with concessions to $1,000,000). Apply through Revenue NSW or via your lender. Combined savings can exceed $35,000 for first home buyers building new. Updated April 2026 based on Revenue NSW data. Under $800,000, you pay zero stamp duty regardless of whether you buy established or build. But building gets you the extra $10,000 FHOG on top. And you get a new home with new warranties, not someone else’s renovation shortcuts. Check our Sydney building costs guide to see how far $10,000 goes in different suburbs. Revenue NSW doesn’t publish rejection stats, but the usual trip-ups are predictable: Buying land first and building later? Different thresholds apply to the land purchase itself (updated 1 July 2023): ## Who Is Eligible for the NSW First Home Owner Grant? ### Example: Building in Western Sydney ### Calculate your total build cost in NSW ### If you’re building (most common) ### If you’re buying a new home ### What you need ### Why applications get rejected ## Stamp Duty Exemption for Vacant Land ## What Happened to the Property Tax Option? ### What’s the difference between the $600K and $750K caps? ### Can I get the FHOG and stamp duty exemption together? ### What about the First Home Buyer Guarantee (federal)? ## Key Takeaways ## Data Sources ## Related Guides ## Key Points - First home buyer — never owned residential property in Australia - Over 18, Australian citizen or permanent resident - New home — must be brand new (never lived in) or a home you build - Value cap — $600,000 for purchasing new, $750,000 for building (Revenue NSW) - Lodge before first drawdown — if you want the grant applied to your first progress payment, lodge through your lender (they act as an “approved agent”) before that drawdown happens - Your builder and lender handle most of it — in practice, the FHOG application gets bundled into the contract process. You sign, they lodge. - The $10,000 comes off a progress payment — it reduces what you owe at the first or final stage, so it’s not cash in your hand, but cash off your bill - Your conveyancer lodges it at settlement — you don’t need to do much here - The $10,000 comes off the purchase price — it reduces what you owe at settlement - 100 points of ID for all applicants ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Who Is Eligible for the NSW First Home Owner Grant? You need to tick all five boxes: ### What Happened to the Property Tax Option? There used to be an option to pay annual property tax instead of stamp duty. That was the NSW First Home Buyer Choice scheme, which launched 16 January 2023 and closed to new applications on 1 July 2023. ### Can I get the FHOG and stamp duty exemption together? Yes, and you should. They’re separate programs, so you can stack them. Say you’re building a $650K home (land $280K + build $370K). You get the $10,000 FHOG plus $0 stamp duty. That’s $10,000 cash back and roughly $25,000 in stamp duty you never have to pay. For full stamp duty details, see our NSW stamp duty guide. ### What about the First Home Buyer Guarantee (federal)? Formerly the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, this federal program lets you buy with just 5% deposit and skip Lenders Mortgage Insurance. It stacks with the NSW FHOG. Spots fill quickly each financial year — check NHFIC for current availability. --- *Source: [HomeBuildBudget](https://homebuildbudget.com/guides/first-home-owner-grant-nsw)*