First Home Buyer Guide for Canberra: The Complete ACT Journey

Buying your first home in Canberra: how the ACT journey actually works

Canberra has its own rulebook for buying property, and it differs from the rest of Australia in ways that catch first home buyers out. The ACT runs a duty-based concession instead of a cash grant, sellers must prepare a full contract (with inspection reports) before they can even advertise, and conveyancing is handled electronically through licensed practitioners. This guide walks you through the journey from getting finance-ready to settlement, focusing on the concepts and the steps rather than figures that change. Always confirm current numbers with the official sources linked below.

1. Get finance-ready first

Before you commit to a listing, understand your borrowing position. A few core concepts every first home buyer should know:

• Deposit: the cash you contribute up front. Lenders typically look for a meaningful deposit, and a larger deposit usually means a better loan position.
• Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI): if your deposit is below the level a lender requires (often around 20% of the price, but it varies by lender and loan type), you may be charged LMI. This insures the lender, not you, and can be a sizeable one-off cost. Ask your broker or lender exactly when it applies and how much it would add.
• Pre-approval: an indicative loan approval that tells you a realistic budget and signals to agents you are a serious buyer. It is conditional, not a guarantee.
• Upfront costs beyond the deposit: conveyancing fees, inspection report reimbursement to the seller, loan fees and, where it applies, conveyance duty. Budget for these separately.

A licensed mortgage broker or your lender can model these for your situation.

2. The ACT Home Buyer Concession Scheme (HBCS)

The ACT does not pay a First Home Owner Grant for current purchases. The cash grant ceased for transactions commencing on or after 1 July 2019 and was effectively replaced by the Home Buyer Concession Scheme, which reduces conveyance duty (stamp duty) on a home or residential land. It is administered by the ACT Revenue Office.

Under the scheme, eligible buyers pay no duty up to a set dutiable value cap, with a partial concession above it. Eligibility rests on several tests that apply at the same time: all buyers must be individuals aged 18 or over; combined household income must be at or below an income threshold (which rises with the number of dependent children); buyers must not have held an interest in other property within a lookback period; and at least one buyer must live in the home as their principal place of residence for a continuous period, commencing within a year of settlement. For transaction dates from 1 July 2024, the prior-ownership lookback is five years, and "income" is measured over the full financial year before the transaction.

The cap, the concession amounts and the income thresholds change over time, so do not rely on remembered figures. Check the current tables on the ACT Revenue Office "About the Home Buyer Concession Scheme" page and the scheme landing page.

3. Consider the ACT Land Rent Scheme

The Land Rent Scheme is a distinctly Canberra option. Eligible buyers take a land rent lease and pay an annual land rent charge (a percentage of the land's unimproved value, billed quarterly but payable more frequently) instead of buying the land outright. That means you finance only transfer costs and the home build rather than the land cost up front. Since 1 October 2013 only the discounted rate is open to new entrants, eligibility is limited to low-to-moderate-income households, and you must reconfirm eligibility each year by 30 September. Weigh it carefully with advice.

4. The ACT buying steps

• Contract first: in the ACT a seller cannot advertise until a contract of sale is prepared. It must include title searches, conveyancing inquiry documents, a building and compliance report, a pest report and an Energy Efficiency Rating (EER) statement; units add owners corporation information.
• Read the reports: the building and pest reports are attached to the contract. The seller pays up front but can seek reimbursement at settlement.
• Cooling-off (private treaty): after exchange you generally have a short statutory cooling-off period to cancel by notice, with a penalty if you do. It can be waived via a section 17 certificate signed by your solicitor. There is no cooling-off at auction: the contract is binding on the fall of the hammer.
• Exchange: once terms are agreed and the deposit is paid, both parties are bound and a settlement date is set.
• Settlement: you pay the balance and ownership transfers, commonly 30 to 90 days after exchange. The ACT uses electronic conveyancing via PEXA, so you transact through a solicitor or licensed conveyancer.

Conveyance duty in the ACT is generally paid by the purchaser, and under the "barrier-free" model it is assessed after settlement. Confirm current rates and concessions at ACT Revenue Office conveyance duty. For the full official walkthrough, see Access Canberra's Reality Check guide and Buying and owning a home in the ACT.

5. Buying a unit or apartment

ACT "strata" is called unit title. If you are buying a unit, you join an owners corporation and pay levies into an administrative fund and (for plans of four or more units) a sinking fund for long-term works. Ask for the section 119 unit title certificate, which discloses the corporation's finances, insurance, levies and rules, and review the registered units plan. See ACT Planning: Buying a unit.

This is general information compiled with AI assistance, not legal or financial advice. Eligibility, thresholds and figures change, so confirm current details with the linked official sources and seek advice from a licensed conveyancer, solicitor or mortgage broker before you act.