Can a first home buyer get a house and land package loan?

Short answer: yes, and there has rarely been a better time to do it in Western Australia. A house and land package loan for a first home buyer in 2026 can stack a $10,000 First Home Owner Grant, zero stamp duty on land up to $450,000, and a government-backed 5 per cent deposit with no lenders mortgage insurance, or a 2 per cent deposit through Keystart. Three levels of government have lined up behind new-build first home buyers this year, and the numbers are the most generous WA has seen. Here is how the loan works, what the support is worth, and what to get right so the build lands on time and on budget.

Is a house and land package loan different from a normal home loan?

The house and land package loan is built around two things bought together: a titled block of land and a fixed-price contract with a licensed builder to put a home on it. Sometimes that is one contract with one developer-builder; more often it is two contracts, land and build, which the lender funds as one loan with two parts.

The land settles first, like any property purchase. The build is then funded in progress payments, commonly five or six of them: deposit, slab, frame, lock-up, fixing and practical completion. The lender pays the builder directly at each stage, after an inspection or invoice, and you pay interest only on the amount drawn so far. That is the part first home buyers love once they see it: while you are still renting during the build, your loan repayments are a fraction of what they will be on the finished home. Once the final payment goes out, the loan rolls into normal principal and interest repayments and it behaves like any other home loan from there.

The lender values the finished home before it exists, using the land price plus the build contract, and lends against that “as if complete” figure. Which is why the fixed-price contract matters so much: the number the lender approves is the number the builder has committed to.

How much deposit does a first home buyer need for a house and land package loan?

This is where 2026 gets exciting. The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme was expanded on 1 October 2025: no income caps, no limit on places, and house and land packages are explicitly eligible. In WA the price cap is $850,000 in Perth and $600,000 in regional WA, measured on land price plus build cost combined. Because the government guarantees the lender for the gap up to 20 per cent, there is no lenders mortgage insurance to pay, which on a $600,000 build is a five-figure saving before you have chosen a tap.

Building under the scheme comes with fixed timeframes, and they are sensible ones: sign an eligible building contract within six months of loan settlement, start within twelve, finish within thirty-six, and move in within six months of the occupancy certificate. The builder must be licensed and registered and the price must be fixed. Owner-builder contracts are out. For most house and land packages those boxes are already ticked.

The WA-only alternative is Keystart’s Low Deposit Home Loan: a 2 per cent deposit, no lenders mortgage insurance, and the First Home Owner Grant can be used towards that deposit when you build. Keystart’s Perth metro price cap rose to $860,000 in April 2026 and its income limits to $155,000 for singles and $228,000 for couples and families; regional caps differ. The rate is higher than a bank’s, and Keystart is designed as a stepping stone you refinance away from once you have equity. We wrote a whole guide on choosing between Keystart or a bank for your first home; the short version is that the two schemes cannot be stacked, so the choice is real.

What government support is there for a house and land package loan in WA right now?

The 2026-27 WA State Budget moved every first home buyer threshold up by $100,000 and it did it with new builds squarely in mind. On the WA Government’s own figures, a first home buyer building on a $450,000 block saves $15,390 in stamp duty and collects the $10,000 grant: $25,390 of support before the slab is poured.

Put it together on a real Perth example. Land at $400,000, build at $330,000, total $730,000. Under the 5% Deposit Scheme the deposit is $36,500 rather than $146,000. Stamp duty on the land is $0 instead of $13,015. The grant adds $10,000. No lenders mortgage insurance. That is the difference between saving for another five years and starting the build this spring.

For a first home buyer in WA, building is not the expensive option any more. In 2026, it is the supported one.

How do lenders assess a first home buyer for a house and land package loan?

On a house and land package loan, income, expenses, credit history and deposit are assessed exactly as they would be for an established home, and the same first home buyer flexibility applies. If your deposit is thin but your rent record is spotless, some lenders will treat rental history as genuine savings, which for a lot of young buyers is what gets the file over the line.

Then the build checks. Lenders want a titled block, or a title date they can rely on; untitled land in a new stage is common in WA estates and it is workable, but the finance is structured around the title date and the 5% scheme requires the land to be titled before the guarantee is issued, inside a 90-day pre-approval window. They want a fixed-price building contract with a licensed builder and the required home indemnity insurance. And they assess serviceability on the whole loan, land and build together, from day one, because that is the debt you will be carrying when the house is done.

Regional buyers, this is your moment too. The 5% scheme’s regional WA cap of $600,000 covers a lot of house and land product in Geraldton, Bunbury, Busselton, Albany and the Mid West, and the WA land duty exemption is state-wide. Lenders are comfortable funding builds in established regional towns; the conversation only changes in remote and mining postcodes, where builder availability and valuation are the questions, and where a broker who knows the town earns their keep.

What should a first home buyer watch out for with a house and land package?

None of these is a reason to walk away from a house and land package loan. They are the reasons to build with your eyes open. Ask the builder for the total turnkey figure, with site works, driveway, fencing, landscaping and floor coverings in, so the number in your loan is the number you move into. Read the price adjustment and sunset clauses in the contract and know what happens if the land title is delayed. Get the build timeframe in writing and match it against your lender’s construction period and the scheme’s 36-month limit. And keep a buffer of your own, because variations happen and a lender will not automatically fund them.

How do you get a house and land package loan approved from here?

1. Pick your lane. Five per cent deposit with no income cap, or two per cent through Keystart if you fit its income limits. A broker runs both against your numbers in one sitting.
2. Get pre-approved for the finished figure. Land plus build, not just land. Under the 5% scheme that pre-approval reserves your place for 90 days while you find the package.
3. Shop inside the caps. Perth: under $850,000 for the scheme, under $860,000 for Keystart, under $800,000 for the grant. Regional: under $600,000 for the scheme. Ask for the turnkey price and the title date on every package.
4. Sign the land contract, then the fixed-price build contract. Land settles, the grant and duty exemption are applied, and the build draws begin.
5. Let the progress payments run. Interest only on what is drawn while you rent, then a normal home loan the day you get the keys.

If you want to know what to ask before you pick someone to run this for you, our questions to ask a mortgage broker in WA is a good place to start. Ask specifically how many house and land package loans they have settled this year, and whether they have placed both scheme and Keystart builds. Then ask them to show you your stack. For a lot of first home buyers in WA in 2026, that conversation ends with a date to pour the slab.