To be eligible for a First Home Loan, you must:
- Be a New Zealand citizen or a resident visa holder who is "ordinarily resident in New Zealand"
- Be a first home buyer, or a previous homeowner in a similar financial position to a first home buyer
- Have a before tax income from the last 12 months of:
- $95,000 or less for an individual buyer without dependants; or
- $150,000 or less for an individual buyer with one or more dependants; or
- $150,000 or less (combined) for two or more buyers, regardless of the number of dependants
In addition, you must:
- Have a minimum deposit that is at least 5% of the purchase price of the home you are interested in buying (inclusive of all savings, grants, first-home withdrawals, and gifts)
- Be purchasing a home for you to live in as your primary place of residence
- Not own any other property or land, this does not include ownership of Māori land
- Be purchasing a property of less than 1 hectare
- Pay a 0.5% Lender’s Mortgage Insurance premium and loan application fee (if applied by the lender)
If you don’t think you are eligible for a First Home Loan, you may still qualify for a Home Loan with Unity. Click here for more information or give us a call on 0800 229 943 to talk it through with one of our Home Loan Specialists.
For more information on First Home Loans visit kaingaora.govt.nz.
More frequently asked questions about home loans
You may find the answer on one of the pages below: