Celebration in Homestart case
A Christchurch woman turned down for a Kiwisaver Homestart grant thanks to a spell of maternity leave is to have her case reviewed by Housing New Zealand. The grants of between $3000 and $5000 are designed to help young people buy homes, but only if they have been contributing members of Kiwisaver for at least three years. But when Amy Wright went on maternity leave, nobody told her she should make voluntary contributions in order to qualify. Now Housing New Zealand has told Wright it will review its decision to decline her the grant. The about-face follows Wright’s warnings on social media to other women to beware of the Kiwisaver maternity leave trap, and her advice was reported in Fairfax newspapers Housing NZ’S Homestart grant rules, which are not set out in statute or regulation, require Kiwisavers to contribute the equivalent of 3 per cent of their gross income to be considered to be contributing for the purposes of meeting the minimum three-year contribution period.
Unemployed people, and those temporarily without an income, such as women on maternity leave, are expected to make voluntary contributions equal to 3 per cent of the gross adult minimum wage during the portion of the three-year qualifying period they spent off work – around $20 a week.
Sometimes Housing NZ allowed people who had missed contributions in the current Kiwisaver financial year to make ‘‘top up’’ payments to become eligible for the grant.
But Wright was not offered that opportunity.
However, Housing NZ has since told her that if she makes a top-up payment she will qualify.
Wright, who has managed to buy a house, and will have moved in by Christmas, is grateful Housing NZ has reviewed her case, but the whole experience has been frustrating.
‘‘Why did I have to be in a story to get someone to listen?’’