Grants and schemes in Tasmania

Four programs touch a Tasmanian purchase. The First Home Owner Grant is a state payment administered by the State Revenue Office Tasmania (SRO). MyHome, run by Homes Tasmania, is the state's shared-equity program; it replaced HomeShare, and existing HomeShare mortgages are unchanged. The 5% Deposit Scheme and Help to Buy are federal, run by Housing Australia. The first-home duty exemption on established homes ended for settlements after 30 June 2026; see the stamp duty page. Each has an eligibility test this page summarises but cannot apply.

First Home Owner Grant

The grant is paid under the First Home Owner Grant Act 2000 and administered by SRO. SRO's first-home page covers building a new residence and purchasing an established home. The grant is the new-residence side; the established-home side was the duty exemption that has ended.

The grant is $20,000 for eligible transactions from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 inclusive, as published by SRO; earlier windows paid different amounts depending on the transaction date. Any value cap on the new home was not seen.

The residence rule is confirmed. For a new home, applicants must move in within 12 months of purchase or completion and keep it as their principal place of residence for six continuous months. SRO publishes the application form and a guideline; the deadline for applying was not seen.

State schemes

Under MyHome, Homes Tasmania contributes up to $300,000 or 40 per cent of the price, whichever is less, on a new home or house-and-land package, or up to $150,000 or 30 per cent on an existing home. The price caps are $800,000 for a new home (from 1 November 2025) and $750,000 for an existing one. The household income limits are $116,933 for a single applicant and $134,475 for a couple (from 1 July 2024), and the deposit is 2 per cent. The buyer still needs enough income for the repayments on the loan for their share.

HomeShare is closed to new applicants.

Closed: the duty exemption above, and the First Home Builders Boost, which appears only in a historic SRO statistics fact sheet.

Federal schemes in Tasmania

Under the 5% Deposit Scheme an eligible buyer purchases with a five per cent deposit. A Commonwealth guarantee stands in for the LMI a lender would otherwise charge. Since 1 October 2025 it has had unlimited places, no income cap and higher price caps. The Hobart and rest-of-Tasmania caps were not confirmed at the time of checking. Housing Australia's postcode tool gives the cap for a location; the participating lender confirms it.

Help to Buy is the federal shared-equity scheme. The Commonwealth takes up to 30 per cent of the price of an existing home, or 40 per cent of a new one, as equity. Applications opened on 5 December 2025; it operates where the state has passed enabling legislation, and Housing Australia has announced that it is available in Tasmania. The Tasmanian price caps and income tests were not confirmed.

How they combine

Three separate tests. Duty relief, when Tasmania has any, is SRO's test on the transfer. The grant is SRO's test on the buyer and the new home. A deposit scheme is Housing Australia's test. Passing one says nothing about the others; a federal guarantee with no state help is the Tasmanian position on an established home today.

The practical effect is on the deposit: a grant adds cash, a guarantee lets a smaller deposit through without LMI, and shared equity lowers the loan. A smaller deposit means a higher LVR, and a guarantee removes the premium that would otherwise come with it.

The tests that catch people out

• Prior ownership, including a co-buyer's. The duty exemption's tests applied to every applicant: no past home in Australia, no earlier grant or concession anywhere. One co-buyer with a past property fails the whole application.
• Moving in on time. Six months' continuous residence in the new home, starting within 12 months, is the grant's condition.
• Contract and settlement dates. The duty exemption turned on the settlement date, not the contract date; contracts that settled after 30 June 2026 missed it.
• Citizenship. At least one applicant had to be an Australian citizen or permanent resident for the exemption; the grant's equivalent rule is in the SRO guideline.
• What counts as new. MyHome distinguishes new homes and house-and-land packages from existing homes; the grant is for building a new residence. Whether a substantially renovated home counts was not seen.

Eligibility is each agency's own decision: SRO on duty and the grant, Homes Tasmania on shared equity, Housing Australia on the federal schemes.