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More Northern Territory residents will be able to own a newly built home after the government passed a bill to extend its first home owners’ grant.
The Northern Territory government has passed a bill to extend the timeframe for the HomeGrown Territory Grant, enabling more first home buyers to access the scheme.
The newly passed First Home Owner Grant Amendment (Extension of Scheme) Bill 2025 has extended the timeframe to access the grant from 30 September 2025 to 30 September 2026.
Launched in October 2024, the one-off payment provides first home buyers $50,000 to be put towards building or buying their first home.
Additionally, the NT government offers a $30,000 payment for existing homeowners to buy or build a new home under the FreshStart New Home Grant, which also expires 30 September, 2026.
As part of the criteria for accessing the grants, once the homes are built or bought, the buyers must live in them for a minimum of 12 months.
Darwin has recently been leading the way for capital growth, amid relative affordability, low levels of housing supply, and a notable lift in investment activity.
The latest Cotality data showed areas such as Wanguri and Durack experienced a growth of 20.1 per cent during the period between February and September.
Smart Real Estate director Stewie Martin told REB that Darwin’s market grew 30 per cent over the past year, with properties selling faster, increasing agent workloads.
Martin said the NT market had been attracting a lot of different buyers, including investors who have been capitalising on lower dwelling prices.
“It’s a relatively affordable market, and investors may be taking note of high yields and rapid value increases.”
Treasurer and Minister for Housing Construction, Bill Yan, said the extension of the first home buyers scheme will give certainty to Territorians buying their first home.
“It gives breathing space for first home buyers to save their deposit, shop around and build or buy their new dream home.”
He said that the Finocchiaro government was committed to ensuring that more first-home buyers can experience having a place of their own.
“The nearly 300 new home builds in the pipeline supported by our range of grants will lead to more than $130 million in direct economic activity for Territory businesses.”
"And every new home built and lived-in will free up more properties for renters."
While the scheme can be appealing, Yan called for the federal government to increase the NT’s maximum purchase price for the 5 per cent deposit home guarantee scheme from $600,000 to $850,000.
He said that the cap must align with the median increase of other capital cities and respond to Darwin’s house price growth.
“Do the right thing and unlock home ownership for more Territorians, especially those wanting to start families, so they can buy new houses appropriate for their needs,” he said.
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