Financial help for first home buyers

You may be able to get government help to buy your first home if you’re a KiwiSaver member, a Kāinga Ora tenant and wish to buy the house that you live in, or are Māori and want to live on your ancestral land.

Government help 

Kāinga Ora support

Kāinga Ora – Home and Communities offers a range of home ownership options when buying a house or land to build on:

  • First Home Grants (was called Home Start Grant)
  • First Home Loans
  • Kāinga Whenua Loans
  • tenant home ownership
  • KiwiBuild

Check the Kāinga Ora website for more information about home ownership and lenders’ credit criteria.

Use the online tool to check your eligibility for a loan or grant.

KiwiSaver first-home withdrawal

You can apply to withdraw your KiwiSaver savings to put towards buying your first home if you have belonged to your KiwiSaver scheme for at least 3 years.

Find out more on the Kāinga Ora website.

KiwiSaver first-home withdrawal

Inland Revenue has more information about:

  • meeting the withdrawal criteria
  • how much to leave in your KiwiSaver account
  • using funds transferred from an Australian Complying Superannuation scheme.

Getting my KiwiSaver funds for my first home

If you’re in another superannuation fund

If you are contributing to a superannuation fund scheme other than KiwiSaver, contact Kāinga Ora to ask if you can use the fund in a loan application.

Contact Kāinga Ora

If you’re from overseas

There are rules for buying or building residential property in New Zealand. Check with the Overseas Investment Office on the Land Information NZ website.

Information for buying or building one home to live in

Who to contact for more help

If you need more help or have questions about the information or services on this page, contact one of the following agencies.

Utility links and page information

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