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The First Home Owner Grant (FHOG) was introduced to help eligible people buy their first home, with eligibility criteria including:

  • You are a person, not a company or trust.
  • You are at least 18 years of age.
  • You are an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
  • You or your spouse/partner have not received an earlier grant.
  • You or your spouse/partner do not have a prior relevant interest in residential property.
  • You meet the residence requirement.

Our Customer Service Charter

Helping you get it right

To help you get it right, we provide a range of information and tools, including:

Our compliance activities

The FHOG is intended to help you buy your first home and not an investment property. We gather information via the public, data-matching and other sources to ensure people receiving the grant comply with the conditions of the grant, including the residence requirement.

We also have a voluntary disclosure program for people who have not complied with the residency requirement.

Where we detect instances of dishonesty, we may prosecute. We have successfully prosecuted a number of people for making false declarations in their grant application or for not advising us that they have failed to meet the residency requirement.

Common errors to avoid

  • Failing to live in the home and make it your principal place of residence.
  • Failing to disclose that the home is an investment property to be leased.
  • Failing to tell us when your circumstances have changed and you cannot meet the residence requirement timeframes.
  • Renovating the home while using another property to, for example, cook, shower and sleep.
  • Living in the home for a period less than 12 months.
  • Misunderstanding the residency requirements by, for example, believing that as long as the home is left vacant for 12 months and not leased, the residency requirement is met.
  • Failing to disclose a domestic partner or spouse.
  • Failing to disclose that you, or your domestic partner or spouse, have received a grant before or have had a prior relevant interest in residential property.
  • Failing to disclose previous names, including previous married names.
  • Misunderstanding that from 1 July 2013, the FHOG can only be paid for a new home (that is one that has not been previously occupied or sold as a place of residence or for the provision of short term accommodation, and includes a substantially renovated home and a home built to replace demolished premises).

Submit a voluntary disclosure or tip-off

Last modified: 22 June 2023
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