KiwiBuild ballot draw hits 3500

The ballot opened yesterday for the first 18 KiwiBuild homes in South Auckland, allowing eligible prospective buyers to put their names into a hat to buy the homes.

The lucky 18 names will be drawn on October 5.

About 3500 people are in the middle of the arduous process of pre-qualifying for a KiwiBuild home right now but just 43 have finished the application.

As long as those people are pre-qualified by the end of the ballot period, they will be eligible to win.

The Government’s KiwiBuild policy is aimed at building 100,000 affordable homes in the next decade, with 1000 ready by July 1 2019.

So far, only 18 homes are ready to move into, as part of a development in Papakura, South Auckland. There are 12 three-bedroom homes for $579,000, and six fourbedroom homes for $649,000.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said KiwiBuild was a major plank of the coalition Government’s agenda. ‘‘After nine years of neglect under National, we now have a Government that is making affordable home ownership a priority.’’

To be eligible, buyers need to earn under $180,000 as a couple, or $120,000 as an individual, who are either first-home buyers or qualifying ‘‘second-chancers’’.

They must also be ordinary residents in New Zealand and must live in the home for at least three years before selling it or renting it out.