Help to Buy Scheme Victoria (2026): Price Caps, Eligibility and Stamp Duty

The Victorian Homebuyer Fund closed in September 2025, so Help to Buy is now Victoria's shared equity scheme. Victorian law treats the government's share as invisible for stamp duty, so the first home buyer exemption applies on the full price, and you can add the $10,000 grant on a new home.

Price caps and where they apply

The $950,000 cap covers Melbourne and Geelong. Everywhere else in Victoria, including Ballarat and Bendigo, the cap is $650,000.

A worked example

A $700,000 existing home in Melbourne, with a 2% deposit and the government’s full 30%:

Victoria's first home buyer exemption means no duty up to $600,000 and reduced duty to $750,000. Under the Duties Act, duty is assessed as if you bought the whole home, ignoring the government's share, and buying the share back later attracts no duty. Run your own figures in the Help to Buy calculator.

Who can use it

• Australian citizens aged 18 or over; permanent residents aren’t eligible.
• Taxable income for 2026–27 of $103,000 or less as a single, $165,000 for a couple or single parent.
• You can’t own property now, but you don’t have to be a first home buyer.
• You must live in the home, and the lender must be satisfied you couldn’t buy without the scheme.

The full rules, including buying back the government’s share, selling, renovating and renting out, are in the Help to Buy guide.

Grants and stamp duty you can add

Help to Buy can be combined with a first home owner grant, stamp duty concessions and the First Home Super Saver Scheme. In Victoria:

• First Home Owner Grant: $10,000 for a new home up to $750,000, for contracts from 1 July 2013. The $20,000 regional grant ended on 30 June 2021.
• First home buyer duty exemption: No duty up to $600,000 and reduced duty to $750,000, on new or established homes and vacant land, for contracts from 1 July 2017.
• Off-the-plan concessions: Construction costs after the contract are deducted from the value for duty, and first home buyers qualify if the reduced value is $750,000 or less; this can be combined with the exemption and the grant. A temporary concession for strata apartments, units and townhouses, open to all buyers with no cap, runs for contracts to 20 April 2027.
• How Victoria treats the government's share: Section 3IA of the Duties Act assesses duty, and any exemption or concession, ignoring the share held by the Commonwealth or Housing Australia, and section 55B means buying it back attracts no duty.
• First home buyer stamp duty on an established home: no duty up to $600,000, with a reduced rate up to $750,000 (first home buyer duty exemption and concession, from 1 July 2017).

You can’t combine Help to Buy with the 5% Deposit Scheme or a state shared equity scheme.

The state’s own scheme

Victorian Homebuyer Fund: Closed to new applications on 10 September 2025. Official page.

If you were looking at the Victorian Homebuyer Fund, Help to Buy is the scheme that replaced it as Victoria's shared equity option.

Every scheme and its status is in our guide to shared equity schemes in Australia.

How to apply

Apply through a participating lender or a broker that works with one: Bank Australia, Commonwealth Bank, Teachers Mutual Bank Limited, Queensland Country Bank. The lender’s conditional approval reserves a place for 90 days, and your contract must allow at least 30 days to settlement.