WA first home buyers
WA First Home Owner Grant
The WA First Home Owner Grant is a one-off payment from the Western Australian Government of up to $10,000 towards a new or substantially renovated home, available to eligible first home buyers buying or building in this state.
This page explains the grant, who qualifies and how it interacts with transfer duty relief, with the rules that matter most around Wembley Downs. Your Mortgage Broker Wembley Downs(/) publishes the figures sourced from RevenueWA so you can check every number yourself.
What It Is Worth Right Now
The payment is a flat up to $10,000, not a percentage of the purchase price, which surprises buyers who assume it scales with what they spend. If the consideration paid is less than $10,000, the grant equals that lower amount instead. One grant applies per eligible transaction, so two co-buyers splitting a purchase share a single $10,000 between them rather than each receiving their own. That flat structure means the grant moves the needle most on entry-priced new builds, where it represents a meaningful slice of a deposit, and least on larger contracts where it is a welcome but modest contribution to costs.
Who Qualifies
Eligibility rests on the applicant and the transaction together, and the RevenueWA eligibility page sets out every test in full. The core conditions are:
Age and status
One grant per transaction
No prior grant
No prior property ownership
New or substantially renovated only
Under the value cap
No means test
Which Properties It Covers
The property-type rule trips up more buyers than the price cap does, so the distinction is worth seeing laid out side by side:
| Property type | Grant eligible | Duty relief eligible |
|---|---|---|
| New home, bought | Yes, under the value cap | Yes, under the duty thresholds |
| New home, built | Yes, under the value cap | Yes, under the duty thresholds |
| Substantially renovated home | Yes, under the value cap | Yes, under the duty thresholds |
| Established home | No, excluded since 3 October 2015 | Yes, under the duty thresholds |
| Vacant land | No | Yes, up to its own threshold |
The table shows the pattern that matters: the grant and the duty relief cover different things, and a buyer priced out of one scheme may still qualify fully under the other.
Why The Rule Bites Here
Eligible stock is thin locally
Wembley Downs is overwhelmingly established housing: about 72.5 per cent of dwellings are separate houses and only 3.6 per cent are flats or apartments, so most property for sale here is established stock that attracts no grant at all. Buyers set on this postcode need to look at new builds on subdivided blocks or knockdown-rebuild projects rather than the resale market.
New supply is arriving steadily
There were 315 dwelling approvals across the suburb over the last five years, putting local building activity around the 77th percentile statewide, which means genuinely new stock does reach the market. Those approvals include replacement homes on large blocks, and a substantially renovated or newly built home on one of those sites is exactly the transaction type the grant targets.
The cap and local values interact
The facts available for this suburb do not include a median sale price, so no figure can be quoted here on whether typical local values sit under the $800,000 cap. What can be said plainly: buyers should check every contract against the cap before assuming eligibility, because a well-specified four-bedroom rebuild on this coastline can plausibly press against it.
Desirable and eligible rarely overlap
The gap between what the grant covers and what most first buyers actually want is sharpest in a suburb like this one, where nearly half of dwellings have four or more bedrooms and household incomes sit at the 93rd percentile in Western Australia. A practical search pairs the grant with a first home buyer loan strategy, and some buyers use a guarantor or low deposit structure to buy established locally while treating the grant as a separate, later project.
How It Stacks With Duty Relief
The transfer duty concession is a separate scheme with its own thresholds, and the first home owner rate of duty fact sheet sets out the bands. The way the two schemes stack is where the real money sits:
No duty under $600,000
Concessional duty to $800,000
Established homes still qualify for duty relief
Vacant land has its own bands
The caps were uncoupled in May 2026
How it works
How To Apply And When Money Arrives
- 1
Lodge with RevenueWA or your lender
Applications go in online with RevenueWA or through an approved agent, which in practice usually means your lender lodging as part of the settlement process. Most buyers never deal with the form directly, though it pays to confirm who is lodging and when before settlement approaches.
- 2
Gather the eligibility evidence
The application documents identity, citizenship or residency status and the contract details, and your lender will usually coordinate the paperwork alongside the loan application. Getting the evidence together early avoids the most common delay, which is chasing documents after the transaction has already completed.
- 3
Watch the twelve-month deadline
The application must be lodged within twelve months of the completion date of the eligible transaction, a deadline that catches buyers who assume the grant arrives automatically. Diarise the completion date when you sign, because a missed deadline forfeits the payment entirely.
- 4
Payment lands on completion
The sourced RevenueWA pages do not state payment timeframes by purchase type, so no dates can be promised here. What is stated is that the grant is paid once the eligible transaction completes, and your lender or agent can confirm the mechanics on your specific file.
Worth knowing early
What Gets An Application Knocked Back
The knock-back reasons are predictable, which is the good news, because each one is avoidable with a contract read before you sign:
- Buying established and expecting the grant The single most common disappointment: the contract is for an established home, which has been excluded since October 2015, and no duty relief paperwork rescues the grant itself.
- Contract over the cap South of the 26th parallel the cap is $800,000 for transactions on or after 7 May 2026, and a contract above it fails outright, including where renovations push the value up.
- Breaking the occupancy rule Not living in the home for six continuous months, or starting occupation later than twelve months after completion, forfeits eligibility even on an otherwise perfect application.
- Prior grant or prior ownership A previous grant in any jurisdiction, or property owned and occupied for six months or more after 1 July 2004, disqualifies the applicant.
- Missing the lodgement deadline Applications lodged more than twelve months after completion are rejected, however strong the file.
- Confusing the two schemes The grant cap and the duty thresholds are separate figures under separate schemes, and assuming they match leads buyers to claim the wrong entitlements on the wrong forms.
Where we work
Areas We Service
Your Mortgage Broker Wembley Downs works with first home buyers across Perth's western and northern beachside suburbs, including Doubleview, Woodlands, Churchlands, Floreat, City Beach and Scarborough, alongside Wembley Downs itself. You can read more about the business on the About page.
Questions answered
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the WA First Home Owner Grant worth?
Up to $10,000 as a one-off payment, or the consideration paid if that is less. It is paid once per eligible transaction, so co-buyers share the single grant.
Can I get the grant on an established home?
No. Contracts for established homes dated on or after 3 October 2015 are excluded. The grant covers new homes and substantially renovated homes, whether you buy or build.
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 as well as new homes, with its own thresholds.
How long does the grant take to arrive?
The RevenueWA pages do not state payment timeframes. The grant is paid once the eligible transaction completes, and applications must be lodged within twelve months of that date.
Mortgage broker for Wembley Downs and the suburbs around it
Get In Touch
If you are weighing a new build against an established purchase and want the grant and duty positions worked through on real numbers, call (08) 6311 4000. Every file is handled by a named broker under a licensed Australian Credit Licence, and our fee and commission structure is published before you commit to anything.