Kiwis flood housing scheme
Applications hit nearly 6000 after Government announces eligibility criteria for its affordable houses
The Government has already received 5950 registrations of interest from Kiwis eager to gain access to affordable housing through the KiwiBuild programme.
The figure quickly reached 1000 applications early yesterday and steadily increased over the course of the day to hit 5950 by 4:45pm. At one point, 15 people were registering a minute. This means there have already been more applications than the number of homes that would be completed in 2020.
Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford yesterday said 1000 KiwiBuild homes would be built in 2018/19, 5000 in 2019/20, 10,000 in 2020/21 and 12,000 a year average through to 2028. He also revealed the terms and conditions of the new scheme aimed to develop 50,000 Auckland homes. The eligibility criteria for KiwiBuild buyers are:
First-home buyers or “second chancers”.
New Zealand citizens, permanent residents or those who ordinarily reside in New Zealand.
Intend to own, and live in it, for at least three years.
Income below $120,000 for sole purchasers and $180,000 for couples.
“People can check the eligibility
criteria and will soon be able to prequalify for the first homes currently being constructed and the thousands more that will be built by KiwiBuild in the years ahead,” Twyford said.
Given the enormous interest in the programme, the Government will use a ballot to ensure fair distribution of the affordable housing as it is built.
Twyford said KiwiBuild’s major challenges were “land availability,
With home ownership at its lowest point in 60 years, the KiwiBuild programme will help many young people and those on lower incomes to get a foot on the property ladder. Bindi Norwell
workforce constraints, consenting time frames, development and build times and growth capacity constraints”. But he cited the Housing NZ Corp development at Auckland’s McLennan estate at Papakura as the first KiwiBuild success where the first 30 homes are being built and threebedroom places are being sold for around $579,000 each.
These families will have to hold their new homes for a minimum three years, although exemptions will be allowed in some circumstances, Twyford said.
“Today’s [yesterday’s] announcement will give thousands of New Zealanders hope that one day they may actually be able to afford a home that they can call their own. With home ownership at its lowest point in 60 years, the KiwiBuild programme will help many young people and those on lower incomes to get a foot on the property ladder,” said Bindi Norwell, chief executive at REINZ.
“One modification that we would like to see, however, is a percentage of the properties to be allocated to low income earners. This would ensure that those who really need it the most, for example a single parent working two part-time jobs to support their family, will have a higher chance of having their name pulled out of the ballot than a single person earning $120,000.”