Getting financial support for buying your first home in New Zealand

• The average house price in New Zealand
• Where you can find financial help for buying your first home
• Other methods to save for your deposit

If you’re in this position, you should be doing everything to find ways to reduce the financial hit you’re going to take. You’d be amazed at how much help is out there to help you buy your first home and you might find that spending a few hours doing some intensive research could save you a whole heap of money.

To get you started, we’ve brought together a list of the main tools Kiwi use to help reduce the costs of buying their first home.

The First Home Loan helps you out financially by lowering the amount of deposit you need to as low as 5%, compared to the standard 20%. The scheme is designed for first home buyers who are finding it hard to save for a deposit but who can afford to make regular home loan repayments.

There are a number of criteria you’ll need to meet to be eligible for the First Home Loan:

• Be an NZ citizen, permanent resident or resident who is ordinarily resident in the country
• Be a first home buyer or someone who’s owned a home before but is in a similar financial position to a first home buyer
• Earn no more than $95,000 (before tax) for the last 12 months for a single person with no dependents, or
• Earn no more than $150,000 (before tax) for the last 12 months for a single person with 1 or more dependents, or
• Earn no more than $150,000 (before tax) for the last 12 months for two or more buyers, regardless of dependents
• Intend to live in the home you’re buying as your primary residence
• Be able to contribute a minimum deposit of 5% towards the home price
• Meet the lending requirements from the lender for a home loan
• Not own other property (excluding ownership of Māori land)
• Pay a 1% Lender’s Mortgage Insurance (LMI) premium and loan application fee (if applied by the lender).

Kāinga Whenua Loans were designed by Kāinga Ora and Kiwibank to help Māori build, purchase or relocate a home on multiple-owned land. It can also be used for repairs and maintenance on such land.

Unlike most home loans, where the loan is secured against the property and the land, a Kāinga Whenua Loan is secured only against the property. An individual can be loaned up to $500,000 for the purchase or construction of a property, as long as certain conditions are met.

To be eligible for a Kāinga Whenua Loan:

• The land must be Māori land that can’t be mortgaged, and either owned by multiple beneficial owners, or the land ownership is vested in the trustees of a trust or incorporation created under Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993.
• You need to access a licence to occupy the land you wish to build on.
• At least one of the people borrowing through the scheme must live in the property full time.
• You’ll have to provide satisfactory proof of income to Kiwibank.
• You’ll need to have a good credit history that is acceptable to Kiwibank.

In addition, the property you’re planning to build or relocate:

• Be built on piles
• Have one storey of at least 50 square metres
• Have reasonable road access
• Be on the mainland of either the North or South Island.