MoneyHub's guide to the HomeStart grant is sponsored by our friends at JUNO KiwiSaver Scheme, manager of our favourite KiwiSaver Growth fund. 

• ​If you've contributed regularly to KiwiSaver for at least three years, you may be eligible to the KiwiSaver HomeStart grant.
• This guide explains how you can access a cash payment of between $3,000 and $10,000, perfect for helping you into your first home.
• The JUNO KiwiSaver scheme offers funds who routinely finish in first place by way of returns. Best of all, JUNO's manager Pie Investments is 100% Kiwi owned and operated, offers fixed-price fees and is one of New Zealand's fastest-growing KiwiSaver schemes.
• More Details: JUNO KiwiSaver Review and JUNOKiwiSaver.co.nz

• If you are undecided on what property to buy, it is a very good idea to apply for HomeStart grant pre-approval. The process is easy - you just need to have met the criteria outlined above, with the exception of the property price (which won't be known when you apply). 
• Once the grant is approved, it is valid for six-months. This is a huge help when you apply for lending and are looking for a property to buy.
• If you find a home, you can access your grant within the 6 month period - you'll need to send the following to Kāinga Ora no later than 10 working days before the settlement date:

1. A copy of a signed agreement for sale and purchase
2. Evidence that you have a deposit of at least 10% of the property purchase price

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Once Kāinga Ora is happy, you'll receive your money and be one step closer to homeownership. 

A "new home" is considered "a home which received its building code compliance certificate less than six months before Kāinga Ora receives your KiwiSaver HomeStart grant application".

But there are some essential requirements:

• The building code compliance certificate must relate to the home as a whole and not only some building work on the home.
• If you buy a bare piece of land and plan to move an existing home there, this is no longer considered to be a "new home" and therefore the HomeStart grant drops to between $3,000 and $5,000.​

Buying a new home is different from buying an existing property - in many cases you will agree to make initial payments or progress payments to help the builder or developer secure financing to undertake the project. These payments can come from the HomeStart grant, but, the money must be held in trust, escrow or a similar arrangement, with payment only going to the developer only upon settlement.

Our view is simple - if you are buying a home off a plan, get legal advice to make sure you fully understand such an agreement and the obligations you have. Your developer will need to be aware that the KiwiSaver HomeStart grant you are entitled to will be held in trust or escrow until the settlement date.

Received a HomeStart grant and later decided to rent out your entire home to tenants? Make sure you comply - if you've owned the property for less than six months and you rent it out, you may find yourself in breach of HomeStart's terms and conditions. The Government and lenders make sure you're abiding by what you signed up to, as reported in this Radio NZ story, with checks such as:

• Phone calls from your lender to ask about the living situation, whereby it is reasonable to expect the lender is looking for consistent information between phone calls. Any irregularity may be investigated as renting the entire property to tenants can often be a breach of a homeowners' mortgage agreement.  
• If you do rent your home, you'll have to register the tenants' bond with the ​Department of Housing, who administered the grant initially. This may cause a red flag. 
• The IRD will be able to determine income from renting a property, which needs to be explained if it is for the entire home.  

Renting a spare room (or as many as you have) is fine, as long as you continue to permanently live in the property.  

Kāinga Orarecommends applicants get organised early and allow for delays if questions are raised. If you need to apply for the grant to meet your financial obligations in a property's agreement for sale and purchase, a lead time of at least 20 working days before your home purchase's unconditional date is the minimum recommended application submission time frame. 

Kāinga Ora advises that if grant applications are not submitted with the required four weeks’ notice, you run the risk of them being rejected and therefore the KiwiSaver HomeStart grant may not be paid out. If your purchase settles before you receive your grant, you won't be able to get the money at all. This is because, as outlined below, HomeStart grants can only be paid BEFORE settlement has occurred.​​​

This is a common problem with young New Zealand families - the mother has a child, takes 12 months off work, and then is not eligible for a HomeStart grant because KiwiSaver contributions were not made during the time off work.

​This article from Stuff outlines the issue specifically for a Christchurch woman - our view is that if you are going on maternity leave, you'll need to arrange with your provider to make manual, voluntary contributions to meet the 3, 4 or 5 years of contributions test. ​

The KiwiSaver HomeStart allows you to buy a property with other people, which means putting together financing could be a little easier. However, there is a grant cap per property:

• $10,000 for the purchase of an existing/older property and 
• $20,000 for a new home or for the purchase of land on which a home will be built.​

Whoever meets the eligibility criteria will receive a share of the total grant in accordance with their individual contributions history as long as they have not received the grant before (or received its predecessor, the KiwiSaver deposit subsidy). 

For the purchase of older/existing properties, the earliest your HomeStart grant can be paid is on the morning of the property settlement, i.e. the day that you own your home. There are no exceptions to this. The purpose of the HomeStart grant is to lower the total amount of mortgage you need to borrow. 

Auctions and Deposits:
If you have successfully won a property at an auction, you may have to pay a deposit to secure the rights to purchase the property. The HomeStart grant CANNOT be used to pay this cost - you will need to have your own savings. 

Yes - and you'll need to have been contributing for at least three years. If you are unsure, contact your KiwiSaver scheme and they'll be able to determine if you qualify or not. If you are just short of a few months, you need to continue contributing until you reach the threshold and then can formally apply for the HomeStart grant. 
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This depends on your income and contributions. If you have contributed at least three years in total to KiwiSaver and earn below the $85,000 individual or $130,000 group limit for the last 12 months on the date you apply, you should qualify. You'll need to check your contributions have met the threshold - your KiwiSaver provider will be able to assess this for you. 

Yes, as long as you have met the minimum contributions depending on your employment background. KiwiSaver HomeStart only considers whether you've made 3, 4 or 5 years of contributions, so if you've made 3.5 years you won't qualify for a higher grant than the 3-year level.  

It's important to know that the 3, 4 or 5 years don't have to be consecutive - if you've gone overseas, been in between jobs and/or gone on maternity leave, Kāinga Ora only looks at the total years contributed so you are not penalised. 

​As a guide, the following income types would require the associated number of contributions:

Salary & wage earners – automatic deductions from salary & wages - add up the number of months you contributed, divide it by 12 (i.e. 12 months per year) and you'll have the number of years you contributed to. 

Self-employed or beneficiary – voluntary contributions - as these are made (at least) annually, add up the number of years where you made contributions and if it is 3 or above, you have met the contribution requirement. 

Mixed salary/waged/benefit and self-employed – if you've experienced a number of employment situations, combination of automatic and voluntary contributions. ​The total number of months in which regular contributions are received divided by 12 – salary/wage portion

​Plus the number of contributions per number of years of self-employment/beneficiary income equals or exceeds the relevant period for which the grant is sought (3, 4 or 5 years) – self employed/benefit portion.

No. They are separate processes and need to be applied for on different application forms. To withdraw your KiwiSaver contributions, you will need to contact your KiwiSaver scheme provider directly and follow their process. 

The answer is simple - it depends on the contributions you have made; unless you have contributed to KiwiSaver for a minimum of three years, you won’t be eligible. This means if you left New Zealand in 2016 but contributed from 2012 to 2015, you would most likely be eligible. To be sure, you'll need to submit an application with your KiwiSaver contribution statement - see the application process below for more details. 

"New property" is defined by Kāinga Ora​ as:

• A vacant residential section on which a new dwelling will be built (i.e. bare land section)
• A house and land package purchased off the plans (i.e. purchased from a builder or developer)
• A new apartment built off the plans
• A newly built property that has received its building code compliance certificate less than six months before the date of the buyer’s HomeStart grant application

Yes, in most situations, you are eligible as you are not a "homeowner" yet by definition, and if you still have 4+ weeks before the settlement date, there is enough time to process the application. Any funds granted would be given to your lawyer and held on trust until settlement date.