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🇳🇿 New Zealand /Elections & Politics

National pledges to expand access to 5% deposits for first-home buyers

From NZ Herald · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • New Zealand’s National Party says it would raise the income cap for the existing First Home Loan scheme to $300,000 and remove the distinction between single and multiple borrowers.
  • The party says the change would expand access to 5% deposits, double the scheme’s size and cost the government an additional NZ$4 million to NZ$6 million annually.
  • National linked the proposal to its goal of lifting home ownership from about 66% to the historical peak of roughly 74%.

National is promising to make 5% deposits more accessible to first-home buyers by widening the income limits on New Zealand’s existing First Home Loan scheme.

Party leader Christopher Luxon and housing spokesman Chris Bishop said the income cap would rise to $300,000. National would also abolish the distinction between single and multiple buyers, applying one cap regardless of the number of borrowers.

The scheme’s current income caps are too restrictive and haven’t been updated since 2022.

· Chris BishopBishop explained why National wants to raise the income threshold for the First Home Loan scheme.

The scheme currently sets the limit at $95,000 for an individual buyer without dependents, or $150,000 for multiple buyers and single buyers with dependents. The government has operated the programme since 2003, under the First Home Loan name since 2019, through Kāinga Ora.

Bishop said the existing limits no longer reflect household incomes. He cited a junior doctor earning $100,000, a couple consisting of an electrician on $85,000 and a teacher on $78,000, and two police graduates earning $77,000 each. Under current rules, he said, such buyers can still struggle to save a 20% deposit while paying rent, food and childcare costs.

So, right now, a junior doctor on $100,000 can’t access the scheme. Nor can a young couple, like an electrician on $85,000 and a teacher on $78,000, or two friends who have just graduated from police college and are earning $77,000 each.

· Chris BishopBishop gave examples of potential buyers excluded by the current income caps.

“The scheme’s current income caps are too restrictive and haven’t been updated since 2022,” Bishop said. National said the average gross income of first-home buyers is about $146,000, meaning roughly half earn more than that figure.

The scheme has helped more than 33,000 households buy homes. More than 7,700 applications were approved between July 1, 2025, and April 30, 2026. National estimated that its changes would double the scheme’s size, with an annual Crown cost of $4 million to $6 million paid from existing baselines. The party said the plan supports its aim of restoring home ownership to about 74%, compared with roughly 66% today.

The average gross income of first home buyers is around $146,000. That means around half of first home buyers earn over $146,000 now.

· Chris BishopBishop used first-home buyer income figures to support the proposed cap increase.
About this summary

Originally published by NZ Herald in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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