In addition to assisting first home buyers, we also administer other initiatives to help Victorians buy or build their own homes.
Concessions for home buyers
Pensioner exemptions and concessions
This year, 5,652 pensioners accessed the specific exemptions and concessions available to them to buy their own homes, totalling $75.5 million in savings.
Principal place of residence concessions
The principal place of residence (PPR) concession supports Victorians who buy their own home. This concession is available to those buying a property valued up to $550,000 and who move into their home within 12 months of settlement.
In 2023–24, 12,924 people accessed this concession, leading to total customer savings of $31.4 million.
| PPR concessions | Number | Value ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan Melbourne | 3,490 | 9.5 |
| Regional Victoria | 9,434 | 21.9 |
| Total | 12,924 | 31.4 |
Australian HomeBuilder Grant
We administer the HomeBuilder Grant on behalf of the Australian Government. Applications for this grant closed on 14 April 2021, however the deadline to submit supporting documentation for existing applications has been extended to 30 June 2025.
Throughout 2023–24, we continued to manage the delivery of these grants, with 409 successful applications receiving $8.6 million in grants.
Victorian Homebuyer Fund
The Victorian Homebuyer Fund (VHF) is a shared equity scheme which makes it easier for Victorians to achieve home ownership. The VHF allows eligible participants to work with a lender to buy a house sooner without the burden of saving a large deposit.
If you have a 5% deposit, the Victorian Government can contribute up to 25% of the purchase price in exchange for an equivalent share in the property, reducing the mortgage and removing the need for Lenders Mortgage Insurance.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants only require a 3.5% deposit and are eligible for a 35% shared equity contribution. 61 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants have joined the scheme since it started, and 52 settled properties are owned by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
In June 2024, the Victorian Government announced an additional $700 million investment in the VHF.
In 2023–24:
- there were 8,586 successful applications and 6,368 settled properties with total shared equity of $958.8 million
- we processed 93% of applications within 5 days
- the median purchase price was $610,000
- 47% of participants were aged 25 to 34
- single participants made up 57% of purchases, while multi-person households (mainly couples) made up 43%
- 91% of settled properties were in metropolitan Melbourne and Geelong, while 9% were in regional Victoria
- the top metro locations were Tarneit/Truganina, Cranbourne, Melbourne, Pakenham and Croydon
- the top regional locations were Ballarat, Shepparton, Drouin, Wodonga and Warrnambool
- there was a net realised gain of $134,142.
The VHF has now assisted 13,655 single or multi-person households to purchase a home since it was launched in October 2021. In that time, there have been 10,922 settled properties resulting in $1,939,912,229 total shared equity held by the Government.
