A 5% deposit sounds simple, but the eligibility rules behind it aren't always obvious. Here's what actually matters.
The First Home Loan is underwritten by Kāinga Ora, which means the government gives your lender the confidence to accept a smaller deposit than they normally would, as little as 5%, instead of the usual 20%.
It's issued through participating lenders, not by Kāinga Ora directly, and you'll still need to meet that lender's own lending criteria on top of the First Home Loan eligibility rules.
Your income cap is based on your gross income over the past 12 months, and it changes depending on whether you're applying alone or with a partner.
If you have a partner, you'll typically need to purchase with them.
There's a cap on the value of assets you can hold outside your everyday essentials. This isn't about your deposit or KiwiSaver, it's things like:
It's an easy one to overlook, a second car sitting in the garage or a jet ski you don't think of as a big asset can genuinely affect eligibility.
Your deposit itself, including KiwiSaver, isn't the issue. But holding onto significant savings well beyond your deposit amount can be worth flagging with your adviser, since it can interact with the overall asset assessment. If you're not sure where you sit, this is exactly the kind of detail worth checking properly rather than assuming either way.
Income caps, employment history, and asset limits all apply together, and it's easy to be fine on one and catch on another without realising. I've built a quick qualifying quiz that walks through all of it in a couple of minutes.
Take the qualifying quiz →