The Home Buyers Assistance Account is the quiet achiever of the WA schemes. It is a rebate of up to $2,000 from the WA Government to help first home buyers with the incidental costs of buying, things like conveyancing and settlement fees, valuation and inspection fees, mortgage registration and loan establishment fees, and lenders mortgage insurance premiums. It is funded by interest earned on real estate agents trust accounts, and because it is a rebate of costs you have already paid, it lands as cash back in your pocket after settlement.

Who qualifies

• You are buying your first home in Western Australia.
• The purchase price is $500,000 or less. The limit was lifted from $400,000 to $500,000 for contracts from December 2024.
• The home is established or partially built at the time the contract is accepted. Brand-new builds are not eligible, which makes this scheme a natural companion to the first home owner rate of transfer duty on established property.
• The property is purchased through a licensed WA real estate agency, which every KPR listing is.
• The purchase is financed through a lending institution, and it is your lender who lodges the application for you.
• The home becomes your principal place of residence, and you live in it for at least the first 12 months rather than renting it out.

How to apply

Ask your lender or broker for the Home Buyers Assistance Account application when your finance is being arranged. The application should be lodged within 90 days of settlement, so raise it early rather than after the boxes are unpacked. Joint purchases where one buyer has owned property before may still attract a partial rebate.

The move-in rule, and buying with a tenant

The property must become your home, and it cannot be rented out during your first 12 months of occupancy. If the property you are buying has an existing tenancy, that tenancy must end within 6 months of settlement for you to remain eligible. A sitting tenant with a few months left on their lease is workable. A fixed term lease with, say, 7 months to run is a problem for this scheme, even though the same tenancy would be fine under the First Home Owner Grant with its 12 month move-in window. Put the lease end date next to the deadline before you offer.

Back to the First Home Buyers hub, where every scheme is listed side by side, or contact us to join our buyer database and hear about properties that fit before they hit the portals.

This page is general information only, not financial, legal, or tax advice. Scheme rules and caps change. Confirm the current requirements with Consumer Protection WA, your lender, or your settlement agent before you rely on them.