KiwiSaver First Home Withdrawal
Once you have made regular contributions to your KiwiSaver scheme you may be able to withdraw your contributions, your employer's contribution and any member tax credits to go towards buying your first home. You cannot withdraw the government contributions, such as the $1,000 kick start when you first joined.
To see if you are eligible for this it would pay to contact your fund provider as not all complying fund providers will allow a withdrawal for this purpose.
It pays to have a letter from your KiwiSaver provider confirming that you are eligible to withdraw from the fund and the amount you are able to withdraw before we go through the application process. A sample letter is available here, Sample-KiwiSaver-withdrawal-letter.pdf (124KB), this letter needs to outline your eligibility for withdrawing from the KiwiSaver Scheme.
There may be another option for you if you have owned your own home previously:
If you have previously owned a home, have been a member of KiwiSaver for at least 3 years and you have not used the KiwiSaver Withdrawal Scheme before then you may be eligible to withdraw your KiwiSaver to help you buy your home.
Below is a checklist to see if you might qualify for the second chance scheme. This checklist may not be complete and you need to apply through new crown entity Kainga Ora (the scheme was formerly managed by Housing New Zealand) to determine your eligibility:
- I have not received the first-home withdrawal before
- I have previously owned a home, but no longer have a share in a property
- I have a gross annual income earned in the last 12 months of $95,000 or less (before tax) (for one buyer) or, we have a combined gross annual income earned in the last 12 months of $150,000 or less (before tax) (for two or more buyers)
Here is the online application form to determine your eligibility: KiwiSaver First-home Withdrawal online application form
For more information on this please contact us.
KiwiSaver Subsidy (HomeStart/First Home Grant)
Once you have been making regular contributions towards your KiwiSaver fund you may be eligible for the KiwiSaver HomeStart/First Home Grant.
The government has introduced changes to this scheme from 1 October 2019, including reducing the deposit required to 5% and renaming it the First Home Grant.
The grant is worth $1,000 for each year you have been contributing towards a KiwiSaver scheme to a maximum of $5,000 if you are purchasing an existing house. This could mean that after contributing towards your KiwiSaver scheme for three years you could get $3,000 towards your new home. If there are two of you and you have both made regular contributions for the past five years then you might be able to get up to $10,000 towards your new home.
If you are buying a brand new home or are building then you may be able to get $2,000 for each year you have been contributing towards a KiwiSaver scheme to a maximum of $10,000. This could mean that after contributing towards your KiwiSaver scheme for three years you could get $6,000 towards your new home. If there are two of you and you have both made regular contributions for the past five years then you might be able to get up to $20,000 towards your brand new home or to go towards building your home. We can also help you to organise a construction loan if you are looking to build your home.
There is a cap on your income, you must have a gross annual income earned in the last 12 months of $95,000 or less (before tax) for one buyer, or have a combined gross annual income earned in the last 12 months of $150,000 or less (before tax) for two or more buyers.
There is also a maximum amount that the house you are wanting to buy, with this grant, can be worth and this varies depending on where you are looking. Below is an indication of the maximum property prices for this subsidy:
- Auckland $625,000 for existing/older properties or $700,000 for new properties
- Queenstown Lakes District $600,000 for existing/older properties or $650,000 for new properties
- Kapiti Coast District, Porirua City, Upper Hutt City, Hutt City, Wellington City, $550,000 for existing/older, $650,000 new properties
- Waimakariri District, Christchurch City, Selwyn District $500,000 for existing/older and $550,000 new properties
- Hamilton City, Tauranga City, Western Bay of Plenty, Nelson City, Tasman District $525,000 existing/older and $600,000 new properties
- Waikato/Dunedin, $425,000 for existing/older, $550,000 for new.
- All other areas $400,000 for existing/older properties or $500,000 for new properties
Not everyone is eligible for this grant. Banks do not normally use this grant as part of the saved deposit.
You can download the KiwiSaver HomeStart/First Home Grant form here: Kiwisaver HomeStart Grant online application form
Have you owned a home previously?
If you have been a previous home owner you may still be eligible for the First Home Grant. If you are in a similar financial position to a first-home buyer, in terms of income and reliable assets, you may still be eligible. To qualify for this you have to have not received this grant before and you must not have assets totaling more than 20% of the house price cap for the area. To find out if this is an option for you then please contact us for mortgage advice and to discuss further.
Talk to Wellington Mortgage Brokers today about how this grant may work for you. Call Craig on 0800 000 518.
Note the information above is subject to change without notice and is just a guide, Wellington Mortgage Brokers takes no liability for changes, errors and we recommend you check with Kainga Ora policy and your respective KiwiSaver providers.