Are you a first home buyer with KiwiSaver, struggling to fund a deposit? You could potentially use KiwiSaver contributions and the KiwiSaver HomeStart Grant to fund the entire deposit for a new home – with no additional money from you!

On the 1^st of April 2015 the KiwiSaver Home Start grant was introduced, providing eligible buyers with grants of up to $10,000 for individuals and up to $20,000 for couples to help with the cost of building or purchasing a brand new home. This doubles the support for building a new home compared to buying an existing home!

Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith announced this as, “The most significant Government support for first home buyers in more than a generation.” This support package, with larger grants for building a new home, is one way the Government is encouraging new residential building.

The HomeStart grant together with the First-Home Withdrawal Scheme could be enough to build your first home, if you are eligible for a Welcome Home loan. Giving evidence of this, Dr Smith gave the following example, “A couple each on the average income of $50,000, will after five years in KiwiSaver, now be able to withdraw $35,000 from their KiwiSaver accounts, obtain a HomeStart grant of $20,000 and with this $55,000 deposit, be eligible for a Welcome Home Loan requiring only a 10 per cent deposit – enabling them to be in the market for a new home of up to $550,000.”

House price caps reflect the cost of housing in different areas. In Auckland this cap is $550,000, followed by a range of areas capped at $450,000 including: Hamilton City, Tauranga City, Western Bay of Plenty, Kapiti Coast, Porirua City, Upper Hutt, Hutt City, Wellington City, Nelson City, Tasman, Waimakariri, Christchurch City, Selwyn District, and Queenstown Lakes. The rest of New Zealand has a $350,000 price cap.

For full terms and conditions on the KiwiSaver HomeStart grant and KiwiSaver First-Home Withdrawal refer to Housing New Zealand’s website. www.hnzc.co.nz/kiwisaver-homestart  

At G.J. Gardner Homes we currently have a number of available house and land packages that fit within these brackets for first home buyers, in areas spread around the country. Contact your local G.J. Gardner Homes representative, and they will be happy to discuss how you could build your first nest sooner than you think.

Alternatively get in touch with Onion, who specialise in home loans for G.J. builds.
On www.onionhomeloans.co.nz or 0800 746 646.