Buying a home in Sydney as a Brit

On a temporary visa, buying in Sydney is a narrow, expensive road. Once you're a permanent resident, you buy much like a local.

The short version

If you're on a temporary visa, you're a foreign person under Australia's foreign investment rules, and from 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029 foreign persons are banned from buying established homes, with limited exceptions [1][2].
Temporary residents can still apply to buy a new dwelling or vacant land, but need FIRB approval first and pay an application fee: AUD 15,600 (about £8,100) for a new home up to AUD 1 million in 2026–27 [3].
NSW adds surcharge purchaser duty of 9% on top of normal transfer duty, and surcharge land tax of 5% of the land value every year [4][5].
Permanent residents who are ordinarily resident in Australia, and Australian citizens, are generally not foreign persons and pay none of this [2][4].

Pound conversions in this guide use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = AUD 1.9363), rounded.

Are you a "foreign person"?

Everything turns on this. The answer isn't about your passport so much as your visa.

Your status	Foreign person under the federal rules?	NSW surcharges?
Temporary visa for 12 months or more (Skills in Demand, student, working holiday)	Yes [2]	Yes [4]
Bridging visa while waiting for permanent residence	Yes [2]	Yes, with exceptions below [4]
Partner visa 309 or 820, ordinarily resident	Yes for FIRB purposes	Exempt from surcharge purchaser duty [4]
Permanent resident living in Australia	Generally no [2]	No, if in Australia 200+ days in the last 12 months [4]
Permanent resident living abroad	May be [2]	May be, unless you live in the home [4]
Australian citizen (including dual British–Australian)	No	No

Two quirks worth knowing. Revenue NSW treats a permanent resident as ordinarily resident if they were in Australia for at least 200 days in the 12 months before the contract date. And holders of a partner visa (309 or 820) who are ordinarily resident are exempt from the surcharge purchaser duty, though the land tax surcharge has its own test [4][5]. There's also an exemption under the federal rules for some foreign persons buying as joint tenants with an Australian citizen or permanent resident spouse; the Foreign Investment Review Board's guidance notes set out the conditions, and a solicitor or conveyancer should confirm it applies to you before you exchange.

The ban on established homes

The government brought in a two-year ban from 1 April 2025, then announced an extension to 30 June 2029 [1]. During the ban, foreign persons, including temporary residents and foreign-owned companies, can't buy an established dwelling unless a limited exception applies, mainly for investments that significantly add to housing supply [1].

In plain English: if you're on a Skills in Demand visa and you've fallen for a 1920s semi in Marrickville, you can't buy it. The ATO enforces this through stricter screening of foreign investment applications [1].

What you can apply for as a temporary resident:

a new dwelling, such as an off-the-plan flat in Zetland or a new townhouse in the Hills District
vacant residential land to build on

FIRB approval and the fees

Before you sign, or with a contract conditional on approval, you apply through the ATO's foreign investment portal. The fee depends on the price and type of property [3].

Price (2026–27)	Fee: new dwelling or vacant land	Fee: established dwelling (where an exception applies)
Up to AUD 1 million (about £516,400)	AUD 15,600 (about £8,100)	AUD 46,800 (about £24,200)
Up to AUD 2 million (about £1.03 million)	AUD 31,300 (about £16,200)	AUD 93,900 (about £48,500)
Up to AUD 3 million (about £1.55 million)	AUD 62,600 (about £32,300)	AUD 187,800 (about £97,000)

Fees are indexed every 1 July [3]. Leave a foreign-owned home empty for 183 days or more in a year and you may owe a vacancy fee, which for vacancy years starting from 9 April 2024 is double your application fee [3]. You also have to lodge a yearly vacancy fee return.

NSW stamp duty and the surcharges

Transfer duty

Everyone pays transfer duty, the NSW version of stamp duty back home. It's a sliding scale on the price or market value, whichever is higher [6]. For 2026–27, a home between AUD 387,001 and AUD 1,290,000 pays AUD 11,602 plus AUD 4.50 for every AUD 100 over AUD 387,000 [6]. First home buyers who are citizens or permanent residents may get a full exemption or a concession under the NSW First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme, depending on the price.

Surcharge purchaser duty

Foreign persons pay an extra 9% of the dutiable value [4]. It comes on top of transfer duty, not instead of it.

Surcharge land tax

Foreign owners of residential land in NSW pay 5% of the land value every year from 2025, and there's no tax-free threshold [5]. Even on a flat, your share of the land is valued and taxed.

What it adds up to

Here's a new AUD 1.2 million (about £619,700) two-bedroom flat in 2026–27, bought by a Brit on a temporary visa compared with the same Brit after getting permanent residence. These are our sums from the published rates, before legal fees, inspections and lender costs.

Cost	Temporary resident	Permanent resident living in Sydney
Transfer duty	AUD 48,187 (about £24,900)	AUD 48,187 (about £24,900)
Surcharge purchaser duty at 9%	AUD 108,000 (about £55,800)	Nil
FIRB application fee	AUD 31,300 (about £16,200)	Nil
Total upfront	AUD 187,487 (about £96,800)	AUD 48,187 (about £24,900)
Surcharge land tax each year	5% of the land value	Nil

That gap is why many Brits rent until their permanent visa comes through. Our guide to renting in Sydney covers the meantime.

Buying once you're a permanent resident

Once you hold a permanent visa and live here, you buy on the same footing as Australians: established homes are open to you, there's no FIRB application, and no NSW surcharges, as long as you meet the 200-day test [2][4]. You may also qualify for first home buyer help.

A few things still trip Brits up:

Lending. Banks look at your visa, your Australian employment history and your deposit. A temporary resident usually needs a bigger deposit than a permanent resident, and lenders mortgage insurance kicks in on smaller deposits.
UK income. If part of your income comes from the UK, lenders may discount it or ask for more paperwork. Your UK credit history doesn't follow you here.
Conveyancing is different. In NSW the vendor's contract comes first, there's a cooling-off period on most residential sales (not at auction), and Saturday auctions are a Sydney institution. Get a solicitor or licensed conveyancer to check the contract before you bid.
Your UK home. Keep the old place in Leeds as a rental and you'll deal with the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme and UK tax on the rent. See UK income while you live abroad.

The FCDO's Living in Australia guide is blunt about it: rules on buying property vary by state, and you should contact a lawyer in Australia before you buy property or land [7]. Australian buyers' agents, banks and brokers will happily talk to you; just remember the foreign-person questions are legal ones.

If your partner is Australian, our sister site ExpatCooee explains how Australian home loans work from abroad, which helps if you're buying in their name before you move over. And for a sanity check on suburbs, prices and conveyancers, ask in our community group for Brits in Australia.

Step by step for a temporary resident

Confirm you're a foreign person and which NSW surcharges apply, using the Revenue NSW pages [4][5].
Shortlist only new homes or land. Ask the developer whether they hold a new dwelling exemption certificate, which changes how FIRB approval works.
Get loan pre-approval that accounts for the surcharge and FIRB fee, not just the price.
Apply for FIRB approval and pay the fee before you're bound by the contract [3].
Budget for surcharge land tax every year, and keep the home occupied or let to avoid the vacancy fee.

Buying a home in Sydney as a Brit: the foreign buyer ban, FIRB and the NSW surcharges