VIC first home buyers
VIC First Home Owner Grant
The First Home Owner Grant in Victoria is a one-off payment of $10,000 from the Victorian Government towards buying or building a new home, provided the buyers meet the state's eligibility rules and the property sits under the value cap.
Your Mortgage Broker Port Fairy(/) is a mortgage broking business serving Port Fairy and the wider Moyne region. This page sets out who qualifies for the grant, which properties it covers, how it interacts with duty relief, and what commonly goes wrong.
What It Is Worth Right Now
Many first buyers are surprised to learn the grant is worth the same amount everywhere in the state. There is no regional boost on current contracts, because the separate regional scheme is closed; the figure you work with in Port Fairy is the same one a buyer in Melbourne works with. That payment is a one-off $10,000, and it applies per eligible transaction, not per applicant, so two people buying together still receive one grant between them. What changes the real value of the deal is the second scheme, the first home buyer duty exemption or concession, which sits alongside the grant and can be worth far more depending on the purchase price. This page covers both, because the eligibility thresholds differ and buyers routinely conflate them. Check the SRO's first home owner grant page before relying on any figure, and read the sections below to see how the two schemes stack.
Who Qualifies
The SRO's eligibility page sets out the full test, and every condition below must be met at the same time. The most common trip point for couples is the prior ownership bar, which applies to both applicants and their partners:
Natural persons only
Citizenship or residency
The prior ownership bar
No prior grant
Occupancy commitment
The property itself
Which Properties It Covers
The property rules decide more applications than the applicant rules do, so this table is worth a close read before you inspect anything. The SRO's eligibility page is the authoritative source:
| Property type | Grant eligible? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| New house, townhouse, apartment or unit | Yes | Never sold, never occupied as a home, never leased or used for short stays |
| Substantially renovated home | Yes | The renovation must have created a new building; check the SRO definition |
| Home built to replace a demolished one | Yes | The rebuilt home must meet the new-home conditions |
| Off-the-plan purchase | Yes | The value cap applies to the contract price |
| Established home | No | No grant at any price, though duty relief may still apply |
| Vacant land on its own | No | The grant attaches to the home; duty relief can apply to land to build on |
Why The Rule Bites Here
The grant's new-home-only rule collides with the shape of Port Fairy's housing stock in ways that genuinely change a buyer's search, and this is the section most statewide pages skip.
The Stock Is Almost Entirely Established
Port Fairy's housing is dominated by established dwellings: the census facts show 90 per cent separate houses and only a tiny fraction of flats or apartments, with nearly half the town's homes owned outright. That mix means the typical charming weatherboard cottage you came here to buy attracts no grant at all, at any price, and no amount of negotiating changes that.
New Builds Are Real But Concentrated
The town recorded 317 dwelling approvals over the last five years, and building activity here sits at the 66th percentile for the state, so genuinely new stock does arrive, but it clusters in newer estates and subdivision releases rather than the older streets. Buyers chasing the grant need to search where that stock actually is, not where they emotionally want to live.
The Gap Between Eligible and Desirable Is Real
A new townhouse on an estate and a renovated period cottage two streets away can sit in the same price band, yet only one carries the grant, and only the cottage offers the character most first buyers picture. That gap forces a decision: take the $10,000 and the newer build, or drop the grant entirely and target an established home.
What This Means For Your Search
Start by mapping which local releases and off-the-plan projects fall under the value cap, then compare those against the established homes you would otherwise buy and the duty relief the established option can still attract. Our first home buyer loans page walks through financing both routes, and the maths is rarely as one-sided as the grant suggests.
How It Stacks With Duty Relief
The duty scheme is separate legislation with its own thresholds, its own property rules and its own once-only limit, which is where most confusion sits. The full picture is on the SRO's duty exemption page:
Full duty exemption up to $600,000
Sliding concession from $600,001 to $750,000
Established homes get duty relief only
Vacant land counts
Once per lifetime, and the prior ownership bar applies
How it works
How To Apply And When Money Arrives
The application itself is straightforward, but the timing rules and the lodgement route trip people up, so here is the sequence as the SRO describes it.
- 1
Lodge Through Your Lender Or Directly
Most applicants lodge through an approved agent, which in practice means the lender funding the purchase, and if your loan is arranged through a broker the paperwork is usually handled alongside the application itself. Lodging directly with the SRO is also available, and both routes run to the same eligibility test.
- 2
Mind The Twelve-Month Deadline
You have 12 months from settlement, or from completion of construction, to lodge the application, and the SRO does not extend this for late paperwork on a whim. Diarise the deadline the day you settle, because missing it forfeits the grant on a transaction that was otherwise fully eligible.
- 3
Payment Follows Completion
The SRO's pages do not publish fixed payment dates, and the honest position is that the grant is paid once the eligible transaction completes. Build your deposit plan so that settlement does not depend on the grant arriving on a particular day, and treat it as a bonus to the cash position rather than a pillar under it.
- 4
Keep Your Occupancy Evidence
Because the grant can be clawed back if the occupancy condition fails, keep records showing when you moved in and that you lived there for the required 12 continuous months. Utility accounts, electoral enrolment and insurance documents are the ordinary proof, and it is far easier to collect them as you go.
Worth knowing early
What Gets An Application Knocked Back
The SRO's own guidance points to a short list of recurring failures, and every one of them is avoidable with a careful contract review before you sign. Read this list against your own purchase before exchange, not after:
- Buying an established home The single most common mistake: assuming the grant applies because you are a first buyer, when the property itself was never eligible.
- A "new" home that has been lived in A property leased out or used as short-term accommodation before purchase fails the never-occupied test, even if it has never been sold.
- Contract price over the cap Above $750,000 the grant is gone, and for off-the-plan purchases it is the contract price that counts, not the finished value.
- Occupancy that starts late or stops short Moving in more than 12 months after settlement or completion, or not living there for the full 12 continuous months, puts the grant at risk.
- Prior ownership or a prior grant An applicant or their partner having owned a home or received a grant before disqualifies the whole application.
- Applying as a company or trust Only natural persons qualify, so the right ownership structure matters before the contract is signed, not after.
Where we work
Areas We Service
Based in Port Fairy, Your Mortgage Broker Port Fairy works with first home buyers across the wider Moyne region and beyond, including Koroit, Dennington, Warrnambool, Bushfield and Allansford. Each of those markets has its own mix of new and established stock, which changes how the grant and the duty relief apply in practice.
Questions answered
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the VIC First Home Owner Grant worth?
It is a one-off payment of $10,000, the same amount statewide. It applies to a new or substantially renovated home valued at up to $750,000, and it is paid once per eligible transaction.
Can I get the grant on an established home?
No. The grant only applies to a new home, a substantially renovated home, or an off-the-plan purchase. An established home never qualifies, no matter its price or your circumstances.
What is the property price cap for the grant?
The home must be valued at up to $750,000. For an off-the-plan purchase, the cap applies to the contract price rather than the completed value.
Do I have to live in the property to keep the grant?
Yes. At least one applicant must move in within 12 months of settlement or completion and live there as their principal place of residence for 12 continuous months.
Is the grant different from stamp duty relief?
Yes, they are separate schemes with separate thresholds. The grant is $10,000 for new homes up to $750,000. The duty exemption applies to homes up to $600,000, including established homes.
How long does the grant take to arrive?
You apply within 12 months of settlement or completion, either through your lender or directly with the SRO. Payment is made once the eligible transaction completes, with no set dates published.
Mortgage broker for Port Fairy and the suburbs around it
Get In Touch
If you are weighing a new build against an established home and want to see what the grant and duty relief actually change for your budget, call (03) 9122 8521. You will deal with a named broker, see a published fee and commission structure, get a written process with real timelines, and receive worked examples with real numbers before you commit to anything.