House and Land Package QLD: Two Contracts, Deposits, Finance and What to Check Before You Sign
By Tim AllenBuyer’s Agent and Director, IPS Buyer’s Agents
What is a house and land package in QLD? It’s usually two purchases sold as one: a contract to buy a block of land, often a lot that hasn’t been titled yet, and a separate contract with a builder to build your home on it. Each contract has its own rules. When the lot is off the plan, the seller must settle within 18 months or you can terminate,[1] and on the build side the builder can’t take more than a 5% deposit before work starts on site, and you get 5 business days to cool off.[2] This guide covers both contracts, how construction finance works, the first home grant and duty concession, the home warranty, and how a package compares with an established home.
Key takeaways
- A package is usually a land contract plus a building contract. Have your solicitor review both before you sign or pay a deposit.[1]
- For an off-the-plan lot, the seller must settle within 18 months, and since 22 November 2023 a seller can only use a sunset clause to end the contract with your consent, a court order or in a prescribed situation.[1]
- On a new home contract, the deposit is capped at 5% before work starts on site, every progress claim must match the work done, and you can withdraw within 5 business days of receiving the signed contract.[2]
- Construction loans pay the builder in stages, and you usually pay interest only on what’s been drawn so far.[3]
- Eligible first home buyers can get a $30,000 grant if the home and land together are worth less than $750,000, including variations, and may pay no duty on the land.[4][5]
How a house and land package works
The land is often a proposed lot in a new estate, bought before its title exists. The seller must give you a disclosure statement that identifies the lot by number, total area and orientation, includes a section completed by a cadastral surveyor, and sets out the state the lot will be in when you take it over, including any earthworks the developer plans. You sign and date it to confirm you understand it.[1]
The home is built under a domestic building contract with a licensed builder, either the QBCC’s new home construction contract, an industry association contract or the builder’s own. For a new home, the builder must give you the QBCC consumer building guide before you sign, a copy of the signed contract with its plans and specifications within 5 business days, and a commencement notice within 10 business days of work starting, which gives the start date and the date for practical completion.[6] With two contracts, the build normally can’t start until the land is yours, so a delay on the land side pushes the whole build back.
The land contract: off-the-plan lots and sunset clauses
The Queensland Government lists the main risks of buying off the plan: you can’t see the result before you buy, the work can be delayed, prices can move before settlement, and contract clauses can allow the contract to be cancelled.[1] The law gives you some protection:
- Material prejudice. The developer must tell you about any change to what the disclosure statement said. If a change causes you a significant disadvantage, such as a significantly smaller lot, you can back out within 30 days of the notice or before the title transfers to you, whichever is sooner.[1]
- The 18-month rule. The Land Sales Act 1984 requires the seller of a proposed lot to settle within 18 months of the contract. If they don’t, and you’re not in default, you can terminate by written notice before settlement.[1]
- Sunset clauses. Since 22 November 2023, a seller can only use a sunset clause to end an off-the-plan land contract with your written consent, under a Supreme Court order or in another situation prescribed by regulation. This covers land, not community titles schemes such as apartments.[1]
- Your deposit. A deposit paid under an off-the-plan contract stays in a trust account until settlement, unless the contract otherwise ends and the seller is entitled to it.[1]
Line the land’s settlement timing up with your finance approval and your build contract. Our guide to the contract of sale in QLD covers the standard terms on the land side.
Building contracts priced at $20,000 or more, which includes any new home, are level 2 contracts.[6] Before starting work on site, the builder must not demand or receive a deposit of more than 5% of the contract price, or 20% if more than half the work is done off-site. Any payment taken before work starts counts towards that cap, including the insurance premium.[2] After that, the builder can only claim amounts that are directly related to the progress of the work on site and proportionate to the value of that work, or less.[2]
You can withdraw from the building contract within 5 business days after you receive a copy of the signed contract from the builder, by written notice.[2] Use that window to check the plans, specifications and the schedules of allowances. The QBCC’s new home contract includes a prime cost items schedule and a provisional sums schedule,[6] so ask how each allowance was priced and what happens if the real cost is higher.
Changes after signing are variations. Before any variation work starts, the builder must put the variation to you in writing and you must agree to it in writing. The document must describe the change, give any expected delay, and state the change to the contract price and when it’s payable.[7] Variations add up, and as the next sections show, they count towards the first home owner grant’s price cap.
A construction loan normally pays out in stages, generally straight to your builder, as work reaches set points such as the slab, the walls with electrics and plumbing, and the internal fittings. You typically pay interest only on the amount drawn so far, and many lenders offer interest-only repayments during the build before the loan reverts to principal and interest.[3] Ask your broker what rate the loan reverts to once the home is finished.
Lenders typically want a fixed-price contract with a licensed builder before they approve a construction loan. Under a cost-plus contract, a cost blowout is yours to pay, not the builder’s. Delays, site conditions, variations and weather can all push a build over budget, so plan a buffer.[3] The brokers we work with, Moreton Bay Finance Broker, can set up the loan around both contracts.
The first home owner grant is $30,000 for contracts signed on or after 20 November 2023, for building or buying a new home. The value of the home must be less than $750,000, including the land and any contract variations.[4] For a contract to build, you must move in within 1 year after the final inspection date, apply within 1 year of the home being ready, and live there continuously for 6 months before you can sell.[8]
On the land, the first home vacant land concession means that from 1 May 2025, eligible first home buyers may pay no transfer duty on residential vacant land. You must be buying as an individual who has never held an interest in a residence anywhere, and for contracts from 1 August 2026, be an Australian citizen, a permanent resident or a specified foreign retiree.[5] You then have 2 years from the land’s transfer date to move in, or you must tell the Queensland Revenue Office so it can reassess the duty, and you can’t sell before you move in.[5][8] A slow build eats into those 2 years, so ask the builder for a realistic timeline before you sign. For the other costs, see our stamp duty guide and our article on preparing to buy your first home.
Home warranty insurance under the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme covers residential construction work, such as building a new home.[9] Before the work is complete, it pays up to $200,000 for non-completion, defects, accommodation, vandalism and theft with standard cover, or $300,000 with optional additional cover. After completion, defects and accommodation are covered to the same limits.[10] Those amounts include alternative accommodation, removal and storage of up to $5,000 for standard cover or $10,000 for additional cover.[10]
The time limits matter. For policies taken out since 28 October 2016, structural defects are covered for 6 years 6 months from the earliest of the contract date, the premium payment or the start of work, and you must lodge a complaint within 3 months of noticing the defect. Non-structural defects must be noticed within 6 months of completion and lodged within 7 months.[9] Before a claim is assessed, you usually have to give the builder written notice of each defect and a reasonable chance to fix it.[9]
Our view is that land drives most of a property’s value, so we hold any house and land package to the same test as any other home: how much land are you really getting, and what is it close to? That’s the answer we give in our buyer’s agent FAQ. A new home in an estate can suit first home buyers chasing the grant and the duty concession. An established home on a bigger block can offer more land, and in the Lawnton land banking story, a doctor bought a house on a 620 m² block as a land bank for a future medical centre. For the wider trade-offs, read master-planned communities or established suburbs.
- Both contracts, with your solicitor. Get legal advice before you sign or pay a deposit on either contract.[1] See conveyancing in QLD.
- The disclosure statement. Check the lot number, area, orientation and the earthworks the developer plans.[1]
- Timing. Compare the land’s expected settlement with your finance approval, and read any sunset clause.[1]
- The deposit and payment stages. No more than 5% before work starts, then claims that match the work done.[2]
- Inclusions and allowances. Read the plans, specifications and allowance schedules, and get any promised extra written into the contract. After signing, every change should be a written variation.[7]
- A fixed price and a buffer. Lenders typically want a fixed-price contract, and you need a plan for overruns.[3]
- Grant and concession deadlines. Keep the total under $750,000, including variations, and make sure the build lets you move in within the concession’s 2 years.[4][5]
- Independent eyes on the build. Consider an independent inspector at key stages and before handover, as you would with a building and pest inspection on an established home, and check the estate’s flood risk too.
IPS Buyer’s Agents works only for buyers. A buyer’s agent can test a package against established homes nearby on land size, location and price, read the contracts alongside your solicitor, and line up finance with your broker before you commit. See our buyer’s agent services, or the costs of buying a house in QLD for the full budget.
A house and land package is two deals, each with its own rules: a land contract that can run late, and a building contract with capped deposits, progress payments and variations. The grant and the duty concession can make a package worth it for a first home buyer, if the price, the variations and the build timeline stay inside the limits. Get both contracts checked, plan the finance for overruns, and hold the land to the same test as any other home.
This article is general information only, current at November 2026. It is not legal, financial or tax advice and does not consider your circumstances. Grant and concession rules change, so check the Queensland Revenue Office’s current requirements and get advice from your solicitor and broker before you sign either contract.
If you’re weighing up a house and land package against an established home, book a time with Tim Allen to talk it through.
- Queensland Government (Office of Fair Trading) — Buying off the plan (last updated 13 April 2026)
- Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (Qld), schedule 1B, sections 33 (deposits), 34 (progress payments) and 35 (cooling-off period) (reprint current from 1 February 2026, read 11 November 2026)
- Canstar — Construction home loans: how construction loans work (fact checked, read 11 November 2026)
- Queensland Revenue Office — First home owner grant eligibility criteria (last updated 6 November 2026)
- Queensland Revenue Office — First home vacant land concession (last updated 6 November 2026)
- Queensland Building and Construction Commission — Domestic building contracts (last reviewed 26 June 2024)
- Queensland Building and Construction Commission — Contract changes and variations (last published 26 February 2025)
- Queensland Revenue Office — Differences between first home concessions and first home owner grant (last updated 6 November 2026)
- Queensland Building and Construction Commission — Home warranty for defective work claims (last reviewed 24 January 2024)
- Queensland Building and Construction Commission — Maximum home warranty entitlements (last reviewed 11 May 2025)
Is a house and land package two contracts?
Usually, yes: a contract to buy the land, often a lot that hasn’t been titled yet, and a separate contract with a builder to build the home. Each has its own rules and its own deposit. An off-the-plan lot falls under the Land Sales Act, and the building contract under the QBCC Act. Have your solicitor review both before you sign.
How much deposit can a builder ask for in Queensland?
For a new home contract, no more than 5% of the contract price before work starts on site, or 20% if more than half the work is done off-site. That includes any payment the builder takes before starting on site, such as the home warranty insurance premium. After that, each progress claim must relate to the work done and be proportionate to its value.
Is there a cooling-off period on a building contract in Queensland?
Yes. You can withdraw from a regulated building contract within 5 business days after you receive a copy of the signed contract from the builder, by giving written notice. The builder can keep a set amount from what you’ve paid. The land contract is separate, so check its terms with your solicitor as well.
What happens if the land in a house and land package isn’t titled on time?
For a lot bought off the plan, the Land Sales Act requires the seller to settle within 18 months of the contract. If that doesn’t happen and you’re not in default, you can terminate by written notice before settlement. Since 22 November 2023, a seller can only use a sunset clause to end the contract with your written consent, a Supreme Court order or in a prescribed situation.
Can I get the first home owner grant on a house and land package?
Yes, if you’re eligible and the new home is worth less than $750,000, including the land and any contract variations. The grant is $30,000 for contracts signed on or after 20 November 2023. For a contract to build, you must move in within a year of the final inspection date and live there for 6 months before selling.
Do I pay stamp duty on a house and land package in Queensland?
Eligible first home buyers may pay no transfer duty on residential vacant land under the first home vacant land concession, which applies from 1 May 2025. They must move in within 2 years of the land’s transfer date or tell the Queensland Revenue Office. Other buyers pay duty on the land purchase, so ask your conveyancer how your contracts will be assessed.