HomeStart roadshow arrives in Christchurch   16 Apr 2015

New Zealand Government

HomeStart roadshow arrives in Christchurch


A roadshow on the Government’s new KiwiSaver HomeStart package to assist more young New Zealanders into home ownership arrives in Christchurch this evening.

“HomeStart is the most generous Government support for first home buyers in more than a generation, and it is part of our plan to reverse the long-term decline in New Zealand’s rate of home ownership. The package is expected to help 11,850 Cantabrians over the next five years to put together a deposit and get a mortgage for their first home,” Dr Smith says.

The KiwiSaver HomeStart package came into effect on 1 April this year. It comprises three changes:
Replacing the KiwiSaver First Home Deposit Subsidy with a KiwiSaver HomeStart grant, doubling the support for buying a new home and increasing the house price limits;
Enabling larger KiwiSaver First Home Withdrawals by including the member’s tax credit (meaning first home buyers will now be able to withdraw all of their KiwiSaver savings except the $1000 kick-start);
Expanding eligibility for Welcome Home Loans by aligning the house price caps with the new KiwiSaver HomeStart grant.

Nationally, the package is projected to assist 90,000 people into home ownership over the next five years, at a cost of $435 million.

“The house price cap in Christchurch, Waimakariri and Selwyn has been lifted to $450,000. This will see a trebling in the number of Cantabrians receiving a Government grant to purchase a first home, from 612 per year under the former First Home Deposit Subsidy scheme, to 2370 per year under HomeStart,” Dr Smith says.

“Thanks to the changes included in the HomeStart package, a couple in Canterbury each earning $50,000 a year will now be able to withdraw $35,000 from their KiwiSaver and qualify for a HomeStart grant of $20,000 – giving them $55,000 for a deposit towards a new home with no other savings. They will also be eligible the expanded Welcome Home Loans scheme, which requires only a 10 per cent deposit, meaning they will be able to purchase a home up to a value of $450,000.

“The second chance component of HomeStart will be particularly significant for Canterbury where there are people who have lost their equity in their home in the extraordinary circumstances of the earthquakes. A non-first home buyer who may not have been insured, who may have been underinsured or through some other extraordinary circumstances have ended up with no home and little equity will be able to receive a HomeStart grant. To qualify, their equity needs to be less than 20 per cent of the new house price cap of $450,000 – so $90,000.”

Tonight’s roadshow in Christchurch is the second in the series of up to 20 public meetings planned for cities and regional centres across the country. The meetings include the Minister, the Commission for Financial Capability and Housing New Zealand, which administers the HomeStart and Welcome Home Loan schemes. Banks are also participating in the roadshow. The first meeting, held in West Auckland last night, attracted around 150 attendees.

“The Government is making good progress on the residential rebuild in Canterbury, with new house building progressing at a phenomenal rate of 4400 homes in 2014 – three times the long-term average and up 73 per cent on the previous year. It is also an encouraging sign that house prices and rents in the region are stabilising, rising last year at the slowest rate of increase since the earthquakes,” Dr Smith says.

“HomeStart is just one part of our programme of housing reform to assist the people of Canterbury. We are working with the development sector and the Christchurch City Council on new initiatives, as well reducing building material costs, reining in infrastructure and compliance costs and investing in sector skills and productivity.”

ends

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