WA first home buyers
WA First Home Owner Grant
The WA First Home Owner Grant is a one-off payment of up to $10,000 from the Western Australian Government for first home buyers who buy or build a new residential home. It is not available on established homes.
This page sets out who qualifies, what the property value caps are, how the grant interacts with transfer duty relief and where the pitfalls sit. Your Mortgage Broker Kinross arranges finance for first home buyers across Kinross and the City of Joondalup, and the page ends with the local picture for this postcode.
What It Is Worth Right Now
The grant pays up to $10,000, once, per eligible transaction, and if the consideration paid for the property is less than that amount the grant equals whatever was actually paid. The figure that changes buyer behaviour more than the grant itself, though, arrived in the 2026-27 Housing Taxation Package: the value cap south of the 26th parallel, which includes every Perth suburb, lifted from $750,000 to $800,000 for transactions on or after 7 May 2026. That single change moves a large slice of Perth's new-build stock inside eligibility. Older pages across the internet still quote the $750,000 cap and the old $500,000 duty threshold, both of which now understate what a first home buyer can access, so always check the current RevenueWA page before you price a purchase.
Who Qualifies
Eligibility turns on the applicant, the applicant's history and the property itself. The rules below come straight from RevenueWA's published grant criteria:
Every applicant is at least 18
At least one applicant is a citizen or permanent resident
Nobody has held the grant before
No pre-2000 property ownership
No recent owned-and-occupied home
There is no means test
You will live in the home
Which Properties It Covers
The grant is deliberately pointed at new housing stock, and the duty relief scheme is not, which is where most confusion starts:
| Property type | Grant | Duty relief |
|---|---|---|
| New home, or substantially renovated home, under the value cap | Yes | Yes, up to $600,000 value pays none, concession above that |
| Established home | No | Yes, under the same duty thresholds |
| Vacant land | No, unless you build on it as an eligible transaction | Yes, up to $450,000 pays none |
| Off the plan, contracted under the cap | Yes at completion | Yes |
The property value caps sit at $800,000 south of the 26th parallel for transactions on or after 7 May 2026 and $1,000,000 north of it. The duty scheme runs on its own thresholds, and the two were formally untied in the 2026-27 package.
Why The Rule Bites Here
Kinross is exactly the kind of suburb where the grant rule changes a buyer's search, because the housing stock and the eligibility rule point in different directions.
Established Stock Dominates
The suburb is 93 per cent separate houses with zero per cent flats and apartments across 2,360 dwellings, and a typical established family home here does not qualify for the grant at all. That established stock, much of it four bedrooms or more, is exactly what many buyers want, and the grant will not follow them into it. It still gets duty relief.
New Builds Are Thin On Ground
Dwelling approvals across the last five years total 83, which is modest building activity, so genuinely eligible new stock within Kinross itself is limited. Buyers hunting the $10,000 grant inside the suburb's boundaries face a thin market, and the realistic options sit in the growth corridors north and east.
The Search Shifts North
Neighbouring Tamala Park and Neerabup carry the newer estates and land releases in this part of the City of Joondalup, which is precisely where grant-eligible new builds and house and land packages concentrate. A buyer fixed on Kinross proper may need to widen the circle one suburb north to find the stock the grant rewards.
What That Means Practically
Run the decision as two separate questions rather than one. If the grant matters, the search goes to new stock around the $800,000 cap in Tamala Park, Neerabup or further afield. If the location matters more, an established Kinross home still earns full duty relief, and the first home owner rate of duty is often worth more than the grant.
How It Stacks With Duty Relief
Two schemes, two sets of numbers, and the combinations are where the real money sits. All figures come from RevenueWA's first home owner rate fact sheet:
New home under $600,000
New home between $600,001 and $800,000
Established home up to $600,000
Established home between $600,001 and $800,000
Vacant land up to $450,000
Vacant land between $450,001 and $550,000
Note that the earlier metropolitan and regional split in the duty scheme ended for transactions on or after 7 May 2026, so the same thresholds now apply regardless of where in the state you buy.
How it works
How To Apply And When Money Arrives
The application itself is straightforward, and the practical work sits in the eligibility evidence rather than the paperwork.
- 1
Lodging The Application
You lodge online with RevenueWA or through an approved agent, which in practice is usually your lender handling it inside the home loan application. The approved agent route suits buyers who need the grant counted toward funds at settlement.
- 2
The Twelve Month Deadline
The application must be lodged within twelve months of the completion date of the eligible transaction. Miss it and the grant is gone, regardless of how strong the eligibility evidence is, so diarise the date at contract signing rather than at completion.
- 3
Proving Eligibility
Expect to evidence identity, citizenship or residency status, and answers on prior property ownership for every applicant. Co-buyers are assessed together, so one applicant's prior ownership disqualifies the whole transaction, which is worth testing before either party signs anything.
- 4
When The Money Lands
The published pages state the grant is paid once the eligible transaction completes, and they do not publish fixed payment timeframes, so plan cash flow on the transaction completing rather than on a promised date. If your lender is the approved agent, the grant is typically applied within the settlement itself.
Worth knowing early
What Gets An Application Knocked Back
RevenueWA's own guidance points at a short list of repeat failures, and every one of them is avoidable with a contract read before signing:
- Expecting the grant on an established home The most common knock-back there is. Established homes have been excluded from contracts dated on or after 3 October 2015, and no asking price fixes that.
- A contract over the value cap South of the 26th parallel the cap is $800,000 for transactions on or after 7 May 2026. A contract $5,000 over it receives nothing, so the cap is a hard line, not a guide.
- Breaking the occupancy rule Failing to live in the home for six continuous months, or starting occupation later than twelve months after completion, triggers repayment of the grant.
- Prior ownership nobody disclosed A previous grant in another state, property owned before 1 July 2000, or property owned and occupied for six months or more on or after 1 July 2004, disqualifies the application.
- Missing the lodgement deadline Twelve months from completion, and there is no late application process that reliably rescues it.
- Confusing the two schemes The grant cap and the duty thresholds are separate schemes with different figures, and buyers who assume they are the same regularly rule properties in or out incorrectly.
Where we work
Areas We Service
Your Mortgage Broker Kinross works with first home buyers and homeowners across the City of Joondalup and the surrounding northern suburbs, and the grant conversation changes suburb by suburb depending on where the eligible new stock actually sits. We service Tamala Park, Neerabup, Joondalup, Currambine, Iluka and Burns Beach, along with Kinross itself, and each suburb page sets out the local lending picture for that postcode.
Questions answered
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the WA First Home Owner Grant worth?
Up to $10,000, paid once per eligible transaction. If the consideration paid is less than $10,000, the grant equals the consideration paid instead.
Can I get the grant on an established home?
No. Contracts dated on or after 3 October 2015 are excluded, so the grant applies only to new or substantially renovated homes. Established homes qualify for duty relief instead.
What is the property price cap for the grant?
South of the 26th parallel, including all of Perth, the cap is $800,000 for transactions on or after 7 May 2026. North of the parallel it is $1,000,000.
Do I have to live in the property to keep the grant?
Yes. You must occupy the home as your principal place of residence for at least six continuous months, starting within twelve months of completion of the transaction.
Is the grant different from stamp duty relief?
Yes, they are separate schemes. The first home owner rate of duty covers established homes and vacant land, with a $600,000 no-duty threshold for homes from 7 May 2026.
How long does the grant take to arrive?
The published pages state the grant is paid once the eligible transaction completes, either lodged online with RevenueWA or through an approved agent such as your lender.
Mortgage broker for Kinross and the suburbs around it
Get In Touch
If you are weighing a grant-eligible new build against established duty relief, or you want your eligibility tested before you sign a contract, Your Mortgage Broker Kinross will run the numbers against your deposit and borrowing position. Call (08) 6311 4000 today. You will speak with a broker working under a licensee holding an Australian Credit Licence, with AFCA membership, and there is no charge for the first conversation.