First home buyer in Queensland: no duty up to $700,000 and the $30,000 grant

If you are buying your first home in Queensland, the single largest saving is on transfer duty (Queensland's name for stamp duty). An eligible first home buyer of an established home pays no duty at all up to $700,000, and a reduced amount between $700,000 and $800,000. If you are buying a genuinely new home, or vacant land to build on, under a contract from 1 May 2025 or later, the saving is even bigger: nil duty with no price cap at all. On top of that, a new home can attract a $30,000 First Home Owner Grant. This guide sets out exactly what you get, with the duty figures computed from the current Queensland Revenue Office rates.

The $700,000 full duty exemption

The centrepiece of Queensland's first home buyer support for an established (previously lived in) home is a full exemption from transfer duty. If you are an eligible first home buyer and the dutiable value of your home is $700,000 or less, you pay no transfer duty at all. That is not a discount off a smaller bill, it is the whole duty removed, which on a home near the top of that range is tens of thousands of dollars kept in your pocket.

It is administered by the Queensland Revenue Office, which confirms a first home buyer pays no duty on a home valued up to $700,000.

The $700,000 to $800,000 sliding concession

Above $700,000 the benefit does not vanish at once. Between $700,001 and $800,000 an eligible first home buyer pays a reduced amount of duty, on a sliding scale that starts near zero just above $700,000 and rises to the full home-concession duty amount at $800,000. From $800,000 and above, the first home concession has fully phased out; only the ordinary home concession (see further down) applies if you are still moving in.

This is a genuine taper, computed against Queensland's own home concession rate table, not the standard investor table: buying a few thousand dollars over $700,000 costs you only a small amount of duty rather than a sudden jump. The Queensland Revenue Office calculates the exact reduced figure for your price.

New home or vacant land: uncapped nil duty

If you are not buying an established home, check this section before assuming the $700,000/$800,000 figures above apply to you, because Queensland runs a genuinely separate, more generous scheme for two specific cases, both requiring a contract dated 1 May 2025 or later:

• A brand new home (never previously occupied or sold as a place of residence, or a substantially renovated home that qualifies as new for GST purposes): nil transfer duty, with no value cap at all on the home and its residential land.
• Vacant land you intend to build your first home on: nil transfer duty on the residential vacant land portion, again with no value cap. At $1,000,000, for example, an eligible first home buyer of qualifying vacant land pays nil transfer duty.

You must build and move into the home within 2 years of settlement for vacant land (1 year for a new home), and the other first home eligibility rules below still apply. See the first home (new home) concession and first home vacant land concession pages for full detail, and confirm with your solicitor whether your specific property counts as genuinely new before relying on the uncapped figure.

Worked examples (established home route)

Each first home buyer figure below is the established-home first home concession, computed from the current Queensland Revenue Office rates (verified 15 July 2026), shown against the standard (investor) duty at the same price so you can see the saving. If you are buying a new home or vacant land instead, see the uncapped scheme above rather than this table.

Duty computed from the Queensland Revenue Office standard rates and the first home concession thresholds, verified 15 July 2026. Estimate only. Use the official Queensland Revenue Office estimator for a precise figure. For the full rate tables and a calculator, see the transfer duty Queensland guide.

The $30,000 First Home Owner Grant

Separate from every duty concession is a cash grant. The $30,000 First Home Owner Grant (new homes only) is paid by the Queensland Revenue Office to eligible first home buyers who buy or build a new home. Its conditions are narrower than the duty concessions: new home (never previously lived in) valued under $750,000 including land; must move in within 1 year of settlement and live there continuously for at least 6 months. Extended to contracts signed up to 30 June 2030.

The key distinction is the same one that matters for duty: new versus established. The $700,000 exemption above can apply to an established home as well as a new one, but the grant does not: it is for a newly built or never-occupied home only. If you are buying an existing house, you can still get the established-home duty exemption or concession, but not the grant. For an eligible new home within the price cap, the uncapped new home duty concession and the grant can both apply to the same purchase. Full conditions are on the Queensland Revenue Office first home grant page.

Deposit and shared-equity schemes

The savings above are Queensland rules on duty and the state grant. Two of the most-asked-about first home buyer supports are federal, not part of the Queensland duty system, so this guide does not quote their figures (income and property price caps change, and they are set nationally, not by Queensland):

• The First Home Guarantee (the Australian Government low-deposit scheme) lets eligible buyers purchase with a smaller deposit without paying lenders mortgage insurance. Property price caps and eligibility are set federally and change, so check the current details at the official Australian Government first home buyers site rather than relying on a figure quoted elsewhere.
• Shared-equity and super-saver schemes are likewise federal. The same official site is the authoritative source for what is available and the current caps.

Who counts as a first home buyer

The concessions and grant each have their own eligibility rules, but the core first home buyer test for the duty benefit, per the Queensland Revenue Office, is broadly:

• You (and any co-buyer relying on the benefit) have never held an interest in a home anywhere in Australia or overseas.
• You are buying as an individual, and at least one buyer will live in the property as their principal place of residence.
• You move in within 1 year of settlement (2 years for vacant land you build on) and live there on a daily basis. You cannot sell or transfer the property before you move in, and a partial concession applies if you sell within a year of moving in.

Eligibility can turn on details, for example buying with a partner who has owned before, or trusts and companies, that this general guide cannot resolve for your situation. Confirm your own eligibility with the Queensland Revenue Office or your solicitor before you sign.

Do first home buyers also get the home concession?

Queensland has a second, separate concession: a lower home concession rate for any owner-occupier, first home buyer or not. A common question is whether a first home buyer gets both. In practice the answer is simple, and it is worth being precise rather than inventing an interaction:

• If you are an eligible first home buyer of an established home, the first home concession is more generous below $700,000 (nil duty) than the home concession alone would be, so it is what applies. There is nothing to gain from claiming the home concession on top.
• If you do not qualify as a first home buyer (say you have owned a home before), the home concession is your fallback as an owner-occupier, at a lower rate than the standard table across the whole price, not just a first-home-only slice. See the home concession section of the transfer duty Queensland guide.

If your situation sits near one of these boundaries, check it directly with the Queensland Revenue Office rather than assuming.

How to claim

You do not usually apply for a duty exemption or concession separately. Because Queensland has no independently licensed conveyancers, your solicitor, or the conveyancing team working under their practising certificate, lodges the claim as part of the duty assessment at settlement, and you sign a declaration confirming you meet the eligibility criteria. The First Home Owner Grant for a new home is applied for through the Queensland Revenue Office, often via your lender. Engaging your solicitor early means the concession and any grant are handled correctly the first time and reflected in your settlement figures.

Conveyancing Explained provides general information about property transactions in Australia. It is not legal advice and does not create a client relationship. For advice on your situation, engage a licensed conveyancer, settlement agent, or property solicitor in your state or territory.