Unlock the secrets to stamp duty savings on your home

Stamp duty concessions can reduce what you pay to settle on your property by tens of thousands of dollars.

Each state and territory runs its own scheme with different thresholds, caps, and conditions. Some apply to new builds only, others cover established homes, and a few have no price cap at all. The rules changed significantly from mid-2026 across several jurisdictions, so what applied a year ago may no longer be current. If you're applying for a home loan or refinancing to fund construction, knowing which concessions you qualify for can shift both your upfront costs and your borrowing capacity.

Which concessions apply if you're buying an established home

Full stamp duty exemptions for first home buyers purchasing established homes are available in NSW, Victoria, and until recently, Tasmania.

In NSW, if the property is valued up to $800,000, you pay no transfer duty. Between $800,001 and $1,000,000, a sliding concession applies. In Victoria, properties valued up to $600,000 attract no duty, with a concession available on homes between $600,001 and $750,000. The Tasmanian full exemption for established homes valued at $750,000 or less ended on 30 June 2026 and has not been replaced.

Queensland offers a first home concession on established homes, not an exemption. Duty is calculated at the standard home concession rate with an additional first home concession amount deducted. For contracts signed from 9 June 2024, the maximum deduction is $17,350 on properties valued up to $709,999, phasing out at $800,000 or more. You still pay duty under this structure, just a reduced amount.

South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory do not offer stamp duty relief on established homes for first home buyers. In those states, the concessions are reserved for new builds, vacant land, or off-the-plan purchases.

New home concessions and price cap changes from mid-2026

New homes attract more generous duty treatment across most of Australia.

Queensland removed the price cap entirely for first home buyers purchasing new homes under contracts signed from 1 May 2025, bringing transfer duty to nil on the residential land component. South Australia followed a similar path from 6 June 2024, offering full stamp duty relief on new homes with no property value limit. Western Australia adjusted its thresholds from 7 May 2026, removing the geographic distinction between Perth and regional areas and introducing a single statewide scale. Under the revised WA rules, no duty applies on homes valued up to $600,000, with a concessional rate on homes between $600,001 and $800,000.

Consider a buyer purchasing a new granny flat-ready home in regional Queensland at the suburb's current median. With no price cap on the new home concession, transfer duty is reduced to nil. That same buyer would have faced a capped concession under the previous rules. The change directly increases what they can afford to borrow, as settlement costs no longer include a five-figure duty bill.

Victoria's concession structure for new homes mirrors its treatment of established homes, with a full exemption up to $600,000 and a sliding concession to $750,000. The ACT removed both the property value limit and the income threshold from 1 July 2026, meaning eligible first home buyers now receive full duty exemption regardless of purchase price or household income. Tasmania's new home grant increased to $20,000 from 1 July 2026, though this has not yet received royal assent at the time of writing.

Off-the-plan purchases and timing your contract

Off-the-plan concessions in Western Australia and Victoria apply to buyers beyond first home buyers and are time-limited.

In WA, the off-the-plan duty concession runs until 30 June 2028 and applies to new dwellings purchased off-the-plan or under construction in strata, survey-strata, or community title arrangements. A pre-construction contract on a dwelling valued up to $800,000 attracts a 100% concession capped at $50,000. If the contract is signed after construction has commenced, the concession drops to 75%, still capped at $50,000. These thresholds increased from 12 March 2026.

Victoria's off-the-plan concession applied to strata or community title contracts signed on or before 31 October 2026 for properties not yet titled or substantially completed, with duty calculated on the land value at the contract date only. That concession has now ended. The ACT offers a full duty exemption on off-the-plan unit owner-occupier purchases from 1 July 2026 with no property value threshold, covering apartments and townhouses where the buyer will occupy the property as their principal place of residence for at least one year.

Timing matters. A buyer signing a pre-construction strata contract in Perth in early 2026 would have qualified for a lower concession cap and threshold than a buyer signing the same contract in August 2026 under the updated rules. If you're weighing whether to proceed with an off-the-plan purchase or refinance to fund a granny flat build on your existing block, the concession difference could be $20,000 or more depending on jurisdiction and timing.

Residency and ownership conditions across all schemes

Every state and territory concession requires you to occupy the property as your principal place of residence, but the timeframes vary.

NSW and Victoria require you to move in within 12 months of settlement and reside in the property for at least 12 continuous months. Queensland enforces the same standard. South Australia reduced its residency requirement to 6 continuous months commencing within 12 months of settlement for contracts from 15 June 2023. Western Australia and the Northern Territory require 6 months of continuous occupancy commencing within 12 months of completion. The ACT and Tasmania both specify one year of continuous residency.

From 1 August 2026, Queensland introduced a requirement that at least one applicant must be an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or specified foreign retiree for all first home concessions. Western Australia applies the same citizenship or permanent residency requirement to FHOG applicants.

If you're planning to build a granny flat and rent it out while living in the main dwelling, you still meet the residency requirement as long as the land and both dwellings are on the same title and you occupy the main home. Lenders recognise rental income from a granny flat on owner-occupied land when assessing borrowing capacity, and that rental income does not void your stamp duty concession provided you meet the principal place of residence condition for the main dwelling.

How concessions interact with federal deposit schemes

The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme and Help to Buy can generally be used alongside state and territory stamp duty concessions, but there are limits.

Both federal schemes are administered through participating lenders and require the property price to fall within the applicable regional price cap. For NSW, that cap is $1,500,000 in capital cities and regional centres and $800,000 in other areas. In Victoria, it's $950,000 in capital cities and regional centres and $650,000 elsewhere. Those caps are higher than the stamp duty concession thresholds in most states, so the concession often applies in full while the federal guarantee remains available.

Help to Buy and the 5% Deposit Scheme cannot be combined with each other. If you qualify for both, you choose one. State grants and concessions, however, can stack with either federal program. A first home buyer in regional Victoria purchasing a new home valued at $650,000 could access the $10,000 Victorian FHOG, full stamp duty relief, and the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme in the same transaction, provided all eligibility criteria are met.

Where this becomes relevant for granny flat buyers is in structuring the home loan application. If you're purchasing a block with an existing dwelling and planning to add a granny flat later, the federal schemes apply to the initial purchase only. The granny flat build would be funded separately, typically through equity release or a construction loan top-up once the main dwelling is settled. The stamp duty concession applies at the time of purchase, so you benefit from the reduced upfront cost regardless of your construction timeline.

Vacant land concessions for buyers planning a build

If you're buying land to build both a main home and a granny flat from the ground up, separate vacant land concessions apply in most states.

NSW offers full transfer duty exemption on vacant land valued up to $350,000, with a concession available on land between $350,001 and $450,000. Queensland removed the price cap on vacant land concessions from 1 May 2025, bringing duty to nil for eligible first home buyers regardless of land value. South Australia followed the same approach from 6 June 2024. Western Australia applies no duty on land valued up to $450,000, with a concessional rate on land between $450,001 and $550,000 under the statewide threshold introduced from 7 May 2026.

Victoria does not offer a separate vacant land concession structure for first home buyers outside the standard home concession framework. Tasmania, the ACT, and the Northern Territory similarly do not provide targeted vacant land concessions distinct from their broader first home buyer schemes.

In a scenario where a buyer purchases a 700-square-metre block in regional South Australia for land and build at the suburb's current median, the stamp duty on the land component is nil under the current concession. That buyer then applies for a construction loan for the granny flat and main dwelling as part of a single build contract. The concession saved several thousand dollars at settlement, which the buyer redirected into the construction budget rather than holding it as additional deposit.

Grants, concessions, and how they change your borrowing position

Lenders assess your borrowing capacity based on your income, debts, living expenses, and the deposit you can contribute.

Stamp duty concessions do not increase your deposit, but they reduce the cash you need at settlement. If you were planning to borrow the full purchase price and cover stamp duty from savings, the concession allows you to keep more of those savings as a buffer or redirect them into the build. Some lenders will also factor in the reduced settlement costs when assessing your overall financial position, particularly if you're purchasing in a state with no duty payable on the transaction.

First home owner grants are paid either at settlement or shortly after, depending on the state revenue office processing time. The grant is not included in your deposit when calculating LVR for most lenders, but it does reduce the cash you need to contribute from your own resources. If you're accessing the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme and your state offers a $10,000 or $15,000 grant, that grant can cover a portion of your settlement costs, conveyancing, or initial build expenses without affecting the loan amount.

If you're not a first home buyer but qualify for an off-the-plan concession, the duty saving still improves your cash position at settlement. That can matter when you're funding both a purchase and a planned granny flat construction within a short timeframe, as it reduces the pressure to draw all available equity or savings immediately.

Call one of our team or book an appointment at a time that works for you. We'll review which concessions apply to your situation, confirm your eligibility, and structure your home loan application to make full use of the duty relief and federal programs available in your state.

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