Every First Home Buyer Scheme in Perth, Explained in Plain Language

There has never been more government help on the table for Perth first home buyers than there is right now, and there has rarely been more confusion about it. Six different schemes, three levels of caps, two governments, and deadlines that quietly disagree with each other. Here is the plain-language version, and the process that goes with it.

What is actually on offer

The WA Government gives buyers of new homes a $10,000 First Home Owner Grant, and gives buyers of established homes something arguably more valuable: no stamp duty at all up to $600,000 and a concessional rate to $800,000, on the thresholds lifted in the May 2026 State Budget. At today’s prices that covers a very large share of the apartments, villas, and townhouses through Perth’s inner-city corridor, and the duty saving alone can run to tens of thousands of dollars.

The Australian Government’s contribution is about deposits. The First Home Guarantee lets you buy with 5 per cent down and no lenders mortgage insurance, and since 1 October 2025 it has no income caps and no limit on places, with a Perth price cap of $850,000. Help to Buy goes further for buyers on capped incomes: the Commonwealth puts in up to 40 per cent of a new property’s price, or 30 per cent of an established one, in exchange for an equity share, and you can start with 2 per cent down. Alongside those sit Keystart, the WA backed lender that will take a 2 per cent deposit without lenders mortgage insurance, and the First Home Super Saver Scheme, which lets you build up to $50,000 of deposit inside super at concessional tax rates.

There is also a small WA scheme that many buyers, and plenty of agents, forget entirely: the Home Buyers Assistance Account. It rebates up to $2,000 of your buying costs, conveyancing, valuations, inspections, loan establishment fees and the like, when you buy an established home for $500,000 or less through a licensed WA real estate agency. Your lender lodges the application, ideally within 90 days of settlement. It is funded by interest on agents trust accounts, and because so few people know it exists, it is the closest thing to free money in the whole list.

How they combine

The schemes are not either-or. A buyer of a $560,000 villa might pay no stamp duty under the first home owner rate of duty, buy with 5 per cent under the First Home Guarantee, and have saved that 5 per cent through the super saver scheme. A buyer of a new apartment off the plan might stack the $10,000 grant on top of the off-the-plan duty concession. The right combination depends on your income, your deposit, and the property, which is why the first two phone calls of any first home purchase should be to a broker and to the agent who knows the property.

The process, start to finish

Get a finance pre-approval before you fall in love with anything. Look with your deadlines in mind, especially if a property is tenanted, because every scheme has a move-in requirement and they differ: 12 months to start living there under the grant and the duty concession, 6 months under the First Home Guarantee, and owner-occupation effectively from the start under Help to Buy. Make your offer subject to finance, get your building and pest inspections, and if it is a strata property, read the disclosure material before you sign rather than after. Once finance is approved, settlement in WA generally follows about 21 days later, and the keys are yours.

The trap to respect

Schemes get you in earlier, and earlier is not automatically better. Perth’s older units have moved in big cycles, and buyers who stretched to the top of a cycle have in the past spent years underwater. Buy on the fundamentals of the property, the levies, the rent it would achieve, and the price per square metre, and treat the schemes as a discount on a purchase that already makes sense, not as a reason to buy. We have written about every scheme in detail, including the tenanted-property rules, on our First Home Buyers page.

If you are starting your search, contact us and we will match you to properties as they come to us, often before they reach the portals. This article is general information, not financial advice; confirm current scheme settings with RevenueWA, Housing Australia, and your adviser.