Christopher Luxon speaks to Mike Hosking as National pledges more help for first
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is proposing to expand the government's first-home loan scheme by raising the income eligibility cap to $300,000. The policy aims to help more buyers overcome the hurdle of saving for a deposit, though critics question the impact on housing market risks.
Why it matters
This policy shift reflects a broader political effort to address housing affordability and increase home ownership rates to 1990s levels.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in the studio with Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking Breakfast. Photo / Michael Craig, file
Christopher Luxon says there would be low risk to the Government from expanding the first-home loan scheme to those earning up to $300k.
Speaking on Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking Breakfast , Luxon said National’s latest election pledge wouldn’t put the Government “on the hook” for a substantial amount of money, even if buyers using the scheme were forced to sell with negative equity if prices fell further.
He said the model was a type of mortgage-lender insurance, lowering the risk for banks of lending to low-deposit buyers.
About 7500 first-home buyers had applied for the scheme in the past nine months. However, around half of first-home buyers weren’t eligible as their incomes were too high.
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