If you’re buying your first home in NSW in 2026, there is more government help available than at any point in the last decade — but the support is scattered across federal and state schemes with different caps, rules and fine print. Miss one and you can leave five figures on the table; misunderstand one and you can plan a purchase around help you don’t actually qualify for.
This guide covers every current scheme, what it’s worth, the price caps that apply in Sydney versus regional NSW, and how the schemes stack together — with a worked example of a Sydney first home buyer combining three of them.
The landscape changed significantly on 1 October 2025, when the federal government expanded the old Home Guarantee Scheme into what is now the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, with unlimited places and higher property price caps. By February 2026 the ABC was reporting a jump in first home buyers entering the market through the scheme, and The Guardian reported in July 2026 that most Australian first home buyers are now using it. In other words: your competition at auction is probably using these schemes. You should at least know how they work.
If you’d rather have someone map your eligibility across all of them, talk to OLEND — it’s a free, no-obligation assessment.
| Scheme | Who runs it | What it’s worth | Key cap (NSW) |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Home Owner Grant | NSW (Revenue NSW) | $10,000 cash — new homes only | $600,000 (new home) / $750,000 (house-and-land) |
| First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme | NSW (Revenue NSW) | Zero or reduced transfer (stamp) duty | Full exemption ≤ $800,000; concession to < $1m |
| Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme | Federal (Housing Australia) | Buy with 5% deposit, no LMI | $1.5m Sydney & major regional centres / $800,000 rest of NSW |
| Help to Buy | Federal (Housing Australia) | Government equity of up to 30–40% of the price | Income caps $103,000 single / $165,000 joint |
| First Home Super Saver Scheme | Federal (ATO) | Save deposit inside super at lower tax | Release up to $50,000 of voluntary contributions |
Now the detail — because the caps and conditions are where buyers get caught.
The First Home Owner (New Homes) Grant is a one-off $10,000 payment from Revenue NSW. The catch is in the name: it applies only to new or substantially renovated homes — a newly built house, townhouse or apartment, an off-the-plan purchase, or a home substantially renovated by the seller. Established homes don’t qualify.
The price caps are tight for Sydney:
At Sydney prices those caps mostly point to apartments, units and some house-and-land packages on the outskirts or in regional NSW. The grant is not means tested and not taxable, and it can be paid on top of the other schemes below.
For most first home buyers in NSW, the largest single saving isn’t a grant — it’s not paying transfer duty. Under the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme, for contracts exchanged on or after 1 July 2023:
Unlike the First Home Owner Grant, this applies to established homes too — which is why it does the heavy lifting for most buyers. On a home near the $800,000 threshold the duty saving runs to tens of thousands of dollars, and the concession tapers as the price approaches $1m, so buyers shopping in the $800k–$1m band should get the exact duty figure calculated before setting a budget.
One trap worth knowing: the thresholds are hard lines. A property at $805,000 pays some duty; at $800,000 it pays none. In that price band, negotiation outcomes can be worth more than they look.
The scheme formerly known as the First Home Guarantee was expanded on 1 October 2025 into the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, with three big changes announced by Housing Australia: unlimited places, no income caps, and higher property price caps.
The mechanics: you buy with as little as a 5% deposit, and Housing Australia guarantees part of the loan to the lender so you don’t pay lenders mortgage insurance (LMI). On a Sydney-priced property, LMI for a 5%-deposit borrower would otherwise commonly run to tens of thousands of dollars, so avoiding it is a material saving — and it’s why the scheme has become the default path for low-deposit buyers.
The NSW price caps, current since 1 October 2025 (Mozo’s 2026 scheme guide):
That $1.5m cap covers a genuinely large slice of the Sydney market. Two cautions, though. First, no income cap doesn’t mean no assessment — you still need to service the loan under normal lender rules, and a 95% loan means larger repayments and more interest over time. Second, the scheme’s popularity is itself a market force: The Guardian reported in July 2026 that one in three new participants earns more than the scheme’s former income cap, with commentators linking the demand surge to price pressure in the sub-cap market. Plan your maximum bid on your numbers, not the cap.
Help to Buy opened for applications on 5 December 2025. It works differently from everything above: the federal government takes an equity stake in your home — contributing up to 30% of the price for an existing home or 40% for a new one — which shrinks the amount you need to borrow. You need just a 2% deposit.
The trade-offs are real: the government owns a share of your home (repayable when you sell, refinance it out, or buy it back over time), places are limited to 10,000 per year, and income caps apply — $103,000 taxable income for singles, $165,000 for joint applicants or single parents, assessed on your previous financial year’s notice of assessment. Property price caps apply by location; check the current figures on firsthomebuyers.gov.au.
For buyers whose income comfortably clears the servicing hurdle, the 5% Deposit Scheme is usually simpler. Help to Buy earns its place for buyers whose borrowing capacity — not their deposit — is the binding constraint. (NSW’s own shared equity pilot, the Shared Equity Home Buyer Helper, has closed to new applicants — it’s listed by Revenue NSW as a previous scheme — so Help to Buy is now the shared-equity option.)
The First Home Super Saver Scheme lets you make voluntary super contributions and later release them — plus associated earnings — for a first home deposit. You can count up to $15,000 of contributions per financial year, to a maximum of $50,000 per person across all years. Because contributions and fund earnings are generally taxed at concessional super rates rather than your full marginal rate, disciplined savers can end up with a meaningfully larger deposit than saving the same amount in a bank account.
It requires planning ahead — the contributions must be voluntary ones you’ve made, and release takes ATO processing time — so it suits buyers 1–3 years out from purchase. A couple can each use it, doubling the effect.
Meet a hypothetical couple buying their first home in Western Sydney in 2026, with a household income of about $170,000 and $75,000 saved.
Option A — established unit at $780,000:
Option B — brand-new unit at $590,000 in the same area:
On option B the couple collects the grant, pays no duty and avoids LMI — three schemes stacked on one purchase. That doesn’t automatically make the new unit the better buy; established homes compete on land content, location and resale depth. But it shows why running your shortlist through the scheme rules before you bid changes the maths — two similar-looking properties can differ by $10,000–$40,000 in government support.
Both options still require full lender assessment of income, expenses and liabilities. The schemes reduce the cash needed at settlement; they don’t change whether a lender is satisfied you can afford the loan.
Often yes — they’re run by different governments with separate eligibility tests. A new home under $600,000 can attract all three, as in the worked example above. Each scheme’s conditions must be met individually.
The First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme (stamp duty) does — full exemption up to $800,000 and a concession under $1m. The $10,000 First Home Owner Grant does not; it’s for new or substantially renovated homes only.
No. Since 1 October 2025 the scheme has no income caps and unlimited places. You still need to pass normal lender serviceability assessment, and property price caps apply — $1.5m for Sydney, Newcastle/Lake Macquarie and Illawarra, $800,000 for the rest of NSW.
The 5% Deposit Scheme is a government guarantee: you borrow ~95% and own 100% of the home. Help to Buy is shared equity: the government contributes up to 30–40% of the price and owns that share until you buy it back or sell. Help to Buy has income caps and limited places; the 5% scheme has neither.
No, but the schemes are delivered through participating lenders, and lender-by-lender treatment of them differs. A broker’s job is to line up your eligibility, the price caps, and a lender whose credit policy fits your situation — and to sequence grant applications so nothing is missed at settlement.
OLEND is a Sydney broking practice with access to 40+ lenders and 300+ products. For first home buyers, the work is mostly sequencing: confirming which schemes you qualify for, which lenders participate, and how the caps interact with your target suburbs — before you fall in love with a property. Start with our First Home Buyers service page, read the companion First Home Buyer Guide for NSW, or get in touch for a free assessment.
OLEND is a trading name of Oliveirafokas Pty Ltd. Kevin Oliveira is a Credit Representative (543491) of Finsure Finance & Insurance Pty Ltd, Australian Credit Licence 384704. This article is general information only and doesn’t take your personal objectives, financial situation or needs into account. Scheme rules, caps and eligibility criteria change — confirm current settings with Revenue NSW, Housing Australia and the ATO before acting, and seek advice where appropriate. Figures are editorial references from the sources cited, current at the dates shown, and are not an offer of credit.
The 5% deposit scheme and the NSW duty exemption save different money at different price points. The actual numbers from $700k to $1.5m, with a worked $850k example.
Read ArticleThe step-by-step path from first savings to settlement for NSW buyers — deposits, borrowing power, pre-approval and what happens on the day.
Read Article