HomeGrown Territory – guide to the grants

The HomeGrown Territory grant offers $50,000 for first home buyers building or buying a new home, or $10,000 for buying an established home. It is also available to owner-builders and for off-the-plan purchases.

The HomeGrown Territory grant is the first home owner grant. It increases the existing first home owner grant scheme from $10,000 to $50,000 for new homes and expands it to include $10,000 for established homes.

This means it operates the same way as the first home owner grant does now – it is the same eligibility criteria and the same application process – except applicants must now occupy the home as their principal place of residence for 12 months rather than 6 months.

Your bank or financial institution will be very familiar with first home owner grant applications. They will generally process the application for you. Speak to your financial institution about the application process.

Alternatively, you can lodge an application directly with the Territory Revenue Office. First home owner grant applications can be found on the Territory Revenue Office website (www.revenue.nt.gov.au) and emailed to ntrevenue@nt.gov.au.

The FreshStart new home grant offers $30,000 to purchase a new home or to build a new home to live in if you are not a first home owner. It is also available to owner-builders and for off-the-plan purchases.

You can apply for the FreshStart new home grant via the GrantsNT portal at https://grantsnt.nt.gov.au/GrantsNT.

No. Applicants for the FreshStart new home grant, including their spouses and de facto partners, cannot have received, or will receive, the HomeGrown Territory grant (the first home owner grant) for the home for which they will receive the FreshStart new home grant.

The grants are open for contracts signed between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025.

If you are applying as an owner-builder, you must commence laying the foundations for the home between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025.

Applicants for the FreshStart new home grant will have until 31 December 2025 to submit their application.

Applicants for the HomeGrown Territory grant (the first home owner grant) have additional time to submit their application in line with the current administration of first home owner grant.

The HomeGrown Territory grant increases the existing first home owner grant scheme and extends it to purchases of established homes. Therefore, the eligibility criteria for the grant remains the same, except applicants must now occupy the home for 12 months rather than 6 months.

To be eligible applicants must:

• be first home buyers (not have owned a home before anywhere in Australia)
• sign a contract to build or buy a home in the Territory between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025, or commence building as an owner-builder (laying of the foundations) – it must not replace any other contracts signed before 1 October 2024
• be a person and not a company or trustee
• have at least one person over the age of 18
• have one person who is an Australian citizen or permanent resident
• live in the home for at least 12 months after taking possession of the property (name is on the title) or once construction of the home is complete.

Please refer to the first home owner grant application form for a complete list of criteria.

Application forms can be found on the Territory Revenue Office website (www.revenue.nt.gov.au).

The FreshStart new home grant has the same eligibility criteria as the HomeGrown Territory grant, except it is only available to people who are not first home owners and only to buy or build a new home (not buy an established home).

To be eligible applicants must:

• sign a contract, between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025, to build or buy a new home in the Territory, or commence building as an owner builder (laying of the foundations) – it must not replace any other contracts signed before 1 October 2024
• be a person and not a company or trustee
• have at least one person over the age of 18
• Have one person who is an Australian citizen or permanent resident
• live in the home for at least 12 months after taking possession of the property (name is on the title) or once construction of the home is complete
• lodge their application by 31 December 2025.

All persons who are or will be an owner of the home on completion of purchase or construction must be applicants on the FreshStart new home grant application and meet the eligibility criteria.

Please refer to the FreshStart new home grant application for a complete list of criteria via the GrantsNT portal at https://grantsnt.nt.gov.au/GrantsNT.

There are no limits on the number of people who can be on one application.

All persons who are or will be an owner of the home on completion of purchase or construction, must be applicants and meet the eligibility criteria.

The HomeGrown Territory grant is the first home owner grant. It is replacing the current $10,000 grant with $50,000 for building or buying a new home, or $10,000 for buying an established home.

This means it operates the same way as the first home owner grant does now – it is the same eligibility criteria and the same application process.

Your bank or financial institution will be very familiar with the first home owner grant applications. They will generally help you complete and process the application for you.

Alternatively you can lodge an application directly with the Territory Revenue Office. first home owner grant applications can be found on the Territory Revenue Office website (www.revenue.nt.gov.au) and emailed to ntrevenue@nt.gov.au.

Applicants can apply for the FreshStart new home grant via the GrantsNT portal only, there are no paper forms. The GrantsNT portal can be accessed at https://grantsnt.nt.gov.au/GrantsNT.

The HomeGrown Territory grant application (being the first home owner grant) will be processed via your financial institution or by the Territory Revenue Office should you apply directly with us.

Your bank or financial institution will be very familiar with applications for the first home owner grant.

Applications for the FreshStart new home grant are to be submitted via GrantsNT. The GrantsNT portal can be accessed at https://grantsnt.nt.gov.au/GrantsNT. These will be processed by the Territory Revenue Office.

Yes.

For the HomeGrown Territory grant, financial institutions are very familiar with the first home owner grant and the application process. When applying through a financial institution, the grant is released to it from the Territory Revenue Office once you are approved.

If applying through the Territory Revenue Office, the grant is paid once settlement has occurred when buying, or once the foundation has been laid when building. Applications processed by the Territory Revenue Office should be paid within 5 business days of you receiving confirmation of your application success.

For the FreshStart new home grant, as part of completing the online application form via GrantsNT, you will be asked if you wish the grant to be prepaid into your financial institution’s or conveyancer’s trust account in preparation of settlement or build. Once you have completed the application you will receive an approval email with a form to be completed by your lender/conveyancer agreeing to hold the monies in trust to be used for your purchase or build. Once the form is completed, signed and returned, the grant will be paid to the nominated account.

If you have already supplied this form when completing your application in GrantsNT, the grant will be paid after you receive the approval email.

There isn’t a fixed number of grants.

Instead, the grants will run for a 12-month timeframe, commencing on 1 October 2024 and ending 30 September 2025, and apply to contracts signed during this timeframe to buy or build a home – or for owner-builders, when they have commenced construction (the laying of the slab).

No.

Yes.

Yes, a home is any dwelling that may lawfully be used as a place of residence and so includes houses, units, apartments and townhouses.

The grants are not available for purchasing vacant land.

Yes.

No, the grants are available per title, so if you already have a dwelling on your property, you cannot use the FreshStart new home grant to build an additional residence, extend an existing dwelling or undertake renovations to existing dwellings. It does not include structures/dwellings that are ancillary to an existing home.

The FreshStart new home grant is for comprehensive home building contracts, signed with a builder, where a home is built from slab to completion (or as an owner builder).

A home is built from an existing slab of a previous home, will not be eligible.

The grants are intended for building or purchasing a home.

For grant purposes, a ‘home’ is a building that is permanently attached to land and can legally be used as a residence. This does not include temporary structures like portable buildings or vehicles such as caravans. It does not include structures/dwellings that are ancillary to an existing home.

If the home is located in an area regulated by building codes, it must have the necessary occupancy permits that confirm it meets the required standards for residential use (for example, a class 1(a) occupancy certificate).

If a ‘shed’ meets the requirements of a ‘home’, the grants can be applied to it (that is, have the necessary occupancy permits).

For further details on what is a home please see the Commissioner’s Guidelines:

• CG-HI-006 PDF (169.8 KB): Meaning of a ‘home’
• CG-HI-011 PDF (217.7 KB): Meaning of a ‘new home’.

Yes, if they are permanently fixed and are lawfully occupiable as a place of residence.

Transportable dwellings must be ‘new’ meaning they have not been previously occupied or sold as a place of residence (that is, a newly built transportable that hasn’t been sold before).

No, the grants are for buying or building homes, not for purchasing vacant land.

The grants are for primary residences only.

Each grant has a residency requirement for applicants to reside in the home as their principal place of residence for a continuous 12 months. The residency requirement is a core condition of eligibility.

The Territory Revenue Office will run compliance programs to ensure the residency requirements are met.

If both family members are to be on the title to the property, then both must meet the eligibility criteria.

There are limited exceptions (please see next question).

Yes. Your children will need to have entered into a comprehensive home building contract, or build a home as owner builders, and you will need to have given permission for your children to occupy the home when it is completed. They will need to meet all other grant criteria.

This also applies to parents building a home on land owned by their children.

For grant purposes, a ‘home’ is a building that is permanently attached to land and can legally be used as a residence. This does not include temporary structures like portable buildings or vehicles such as caravans. It does not include structures/dwellings that are ancillary to an existing home.

If the home is located in an area regulated by building codes, it must have the necessary occupancy permits that confirm it meets the required standards for residential use (for example, a class 1(a) occupancy certificate).

Contracts signed after 30 September 2025 (so on or from 1 October 2025) are not eligible.

For the HomeGrown Territory grant, it reverts back to the first home owner grant of $10,000 for new homes only.

For the FreshStart new home grant, it has ended so those purchases and builds will not be eligible.