September 05, 2019
Rent to buy and shared equity in Kiwibuild refresh
A reset of Kiwibuild has been hailed as offering a realistic path to home ownership for many low income whānau.
Housing Minister Megan Woods yesterday announced the target of building 100,000 houses over 10 years was gone, and government would instead focus on new home ownership models such as rent to buy and shared equity.
First home buyers would need just a 5 percent deposit.
Major Campbell Roberts from the Salvation Army says finding the right organisations to deliver the programmes will be essential.
"One of the things about some of these progressive home ownership programmes is they aren't just the financial package. They're working with the families. They're deciding what's the best thing for the whānau to do – is it better to go into an existing house or into a new house, is it better for them to rent for a bit longer rather than go into home ownership at this point. It's helping them with the budgeting. It's helping them with learning what ownership means," he says.
Major Roberts says it's a good start, and there is a lot of detail that needs to be worked out over the next year as the programme rolls out.
Copyright © 2019, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com