When Your Partner Has Owned a Home Before

You're sitting on the couch with a laptop, working through a stamp duty calculator together. Then your partner says it out loud. "I owned a unit with my ex, back in 2018. Does that count?"

It's one of the most common questions couples ask us. The short answer is that it depends on the scheme. Each one has its own test, and they don't all look at your partner the same way.

Why the schemes disagree

Every first home scheme in Victoria was written separately. The state runs the stamp duty exemption and the First Home Owner Grant. The federal government runs the 5% Deposit Scheme, Help to Buy and the First Home Super Saver Scheme.

So "first home buyer" doesn't mean one thing. Some schemes test both of you. Some test only the person applying. Some only care whether you own something right now.

Here's how each one treats a partner who has owned before.

Victorian stamp duty

This is the strictest test, and the one with the most money riding on it.

The first home buyer exemption means no duty on a home up to $600,000, with a sliding concession up to $750,000. To get it, you and your spouse or partner must not have already owned a home or other residential property in Australia. That includes an investment property, not just a place you lived in.

Your partner's history counts even if they won't be on the title. The State Revenue Office asks for their details either way.

• What it means in practice: if your partner owned that unit, the first home buyer exemption is very likely off the table for both of you.
• What's still there: the general duty rules for a home you'll live in still apply, just without the first home buyer exemption.

The First Home Owner Grant

The $10,000 grant is for new homes valued up to $750,000. It also looks at both of you, but the test is different.

You're out if either of you owned residential property in Australia before 1 July 2000. You're also out if either of you, on or after that date, owned a home and lived in it for at least six months in a row.

So a partner who owned an investment property and never lived in it may still pass the grant test, even though they'd fail the stamp duty test. It's a narrow gap, and the State Revenue Office makes the call.

If you'd like a second set of eyes on how these rules line up for you two, book a chat. We go through it with you before you start making offers.

The 5% Deposit Scheme

The federal First Home Guarantee lets you buy with a 5% deposit and no lenders mortgage insurance. Since October 2025 there's no income cap and no limit on places. The price cap is $950,000 in Melbourne and Geelong.

It also has the friendliest ownership rule. You qualify if you're a first home buyer, or if you haven't owned property in Australia in the last 10 years. In a joint application, both of you have to meet it.

So if your partner sold that unit more than 10 years ago, you may both still be in. If it was more recent, a joint application under the scheme won't pass that test.

Help to Buy and super

These two look at things differently again.

• Help to Buy: the question is whether you own property now, not whether you ever did. Income caps are $103,000 for a single and $165,000 for a couple or single parent. Plenty of couples in the west earn more than that together, so this one often rules itself out on income.
• First Home Super Saver: this is tested person by person. If you've never owned property in Australia, you can use your own cap of $50,000, even if your partner can't.

The trade-offs to weigh

None of this tells you what to do. It shows you which doors are open.

A couple where one partner owned eight years ago might keep the 5% Deposit Scheme but lose the duty exemption. On a $650,000 home in Tarneit, that's a real cost to plan for. On a new build, the grant might still apply. Every combination looks a little different.

The mistake we see is finding out at the contract stage. That's when the duty bill lands and the budget stops working.

We've helped over 100 first home buyers into the market, and we're rated 10/10 on Reviewr by over 100 customers. If one of you has owned before, book a chat and we'll work through which schemes still fit your situation.

Let's get you into a home.

Figures verified 8 October 2026 against the Victorian State Revenue Office, Housing Australia and the ATO.