Information sent out by Robyn Tauroa [Te Runanga o Whangaroa] on 4 February 2022.

If you are building on multiply owned Māori land the criteria is as follows:

The criteria for the size of the house must be a minimum of 70 square metres.

Eligibility criteria for Kāinga Whenua loans

• You need to be able to gain a licence to occupy the land you wish to build on

• You will need to meet standard lending criteria, as well as the Kāinga Whenua criteria

• Must be in the same job for a minimum of 12 months or the same industry for the past 2 years

• Good account conduct (no defaults, no unarranged overdraft frees, no missed payments on any debts in the past 6 months)

• Clear credit history (no outstanding defaults with Baycorp or Veda advantage)

Income vs debts

• No deposit required for any borrowing under $200,000.

• Any amount above $200k requires a 15% deposit .ie. $250k will require a 15% deposit on the amount of $50k = $7,500.

Deposit can be from KiwiSaver, genuine savings or gifted funds

• If the borrower is able to provide an acceptable alternative security for the loan, the house does not have to be re-locatable.

• If alternative security is not available the house needs to be re-locatable.

The house you are planning to build, purchase or relocate must:

• be built on piles be one storey of at least 70 square metres have reasonable road access

• The land needs to be Māori land that can’t be mortgaged, and must be owned by multiple beneficial owners or have the land ownership vested in trustees of a trust or

• incorporation, created under Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993.

• Land for social housing development received by iwi as part of their Treaty of Waitangi settlement is eligible for a Kainga Whenua loan.

Eligibility Criteria Broader

• Previous home owners can now apply – the scheme has now been opened up to previous and current home owners. Previously Kāinga Whenua loans have been available only

• for first home buyers (or those in a similar financial position to first home buyers),

• Only one borrower needs to live in the property – under the new rules, only one borrower needs to live full time in the house.

• This means that other members of the whanau, who won’t be living in the house, are able to contribute to the loan repayments.

There is no income cap

The scheme covers repairs and maintenance – Kāinga Whenua has been extended to allow loans for repairs and maintenance to existing homes on multiple-owned Māori land,

in addition to loans for building, buying or re-locating homes on multiple-owned Māori land.

Māori trusts and/or Māori collectives that own land can now apply – the scheme has been expanded to allow lending for housing to Māori Land Trusts and/or other Māori

collectives. Under the revised eligibility rules, land owning trusts will be able to access loan funds to build homes for tenanting or on-sale to beneficial owners of the land. Māori Land Trusts can register their interest in accessing Kāinga Whenua loans.

If the borrower is able to provide an acceptable alternative security for the loan, the house does not have to be re-locatable. If alternative security is not available

the house needs to be re-locatable

Licence to Occupy / Tripartite Agreement

The term, ‘licence to occupy’ means that it is a right to occupy the land, granted by owners of the land. This allows Housing New Zealand (as insurer of the loan)

to take security over a house, which is a requirement of the loan. The Māori Land Court will register the Licence to Occupy against the land block.

The Licence to Occupy forms part of the Tripartite Agreement, which the owners of the land will be required to sign after the application has gained final loan approval

from Kiwibank. Housing New Zealand will provide the Tripartite Agreement to the borrower with the loan documents. It is a good idea to gain approval from other land owners (or the trust, if one exists) early in the process.

*Kiwibank has no other involvement in this process. The borrower is not required to provide any evidence to Kiwibank that they have successfully gained agreement from

the land owners for the borrower to occupy part of the land block.

To proceed with an application you will need to complete the Home Loan application and provide the following documents:

A signed and completed home loan application form (must be signed by all applicants)

The last 3 months of bank statements of your everyday account where your pay goes into and any other transact accounts not with Kiwibank (full statements including

bank logo etc.)

Latest three statements for any credit card, hire purchase, personal loans out side Kiwibank

Evidence of income: your last 3 payslips and a letter from your employer confirming your employment. If you are self-employed we will require 3 most recent years full

financials & IRD tax summaries for the last 3 years if you have them.

Evidence of deposit: If the amount you are looking to borrow is over the min $200,000 amount

Id for each borrower i.e NZ passport or NZ drivers licence

Once pre-approved:

A copy of the registered valuation for the property to be built. You must have a registered valuation which has the “upon completion”

• A copy of the building consents issued.

• Builder risk insurance

• A copy of the latest fixed price contract, along with quotes for any work not included in the fixed price contract.

• Letter from employer

• Must be on company letter head

• Signed by the writer with clear contact details provided

• Start date

• Confirmation of how many hours worked, annual salary/wage and full-time/part-time, casual/seasonal

• Any additional information i.e. bonus or overtime worked/received

If you receive working for families or any other benefit you must provide the letter of entitlement from IRD or WINZ received in the post.

*Please note that occasionally we may ask for additional information. I would be in touch directly though if this was the case.

Step by step guide to applying for a Kainga Whenua loan:

• Pre-Approval - Apply for a Kāinga Whenua through us and get pre-approval which will then be sent to Housing NZ

• Seek a licence to occupy - A ‘licence to occupy’ gives permission to live on the multiple-owned Maori land. This can be a lengthy process when there are numerous land

owners or trustees

• Find a builder, and produce a budget and plan - Find out what the total cost will be to purchase the house, renovations or relocate & complete. Your budget must

meet Kiwi banks lending criteria and you must also obtain all council consents you need to comply with local bylaws.

• Get loan approval from Kiwibank – Get final approval from Kiwibank for final amount

• Tripartite agreement - The ‘tripartite agreement’ is made up of the licence to occupy (including a site license) and a deed of mortgage. It needs to be signed by you,

all the land owners and Housing New Zealand

• Register with the Māori Land Court - The Māori Land Court need to register your licence to occupy

• Building starts - Building of new house, renovation or relocation of existing house starts according to the design, plan, and budget you submitted as part of your

• application

• Progressive draw-downs - Timings and the finer details for progressive draw-downs will be unique to every Kāinga Whenua loan.

• Building complete - Once the building is complete you are now able to move in.

• Congratulations, you now have your own whare on your multiple-owned Māori land.

Additional Information:

Te Puni Kōkiki Infrastructure Grants – TPK may be able to assist you with any infrastructure grants towards your new build.

Kāinga Ora Home Start Grants – Government assistance for first home