If you’ve ever owned a home before, and think you’ve missed the boat to qualify to use your KiwiSaver member savings to buy a replacement home, there are still workable options.It’s important to remember that the KiwiSaver previous home owner options don’t mean that you can own an existing property, and buy a second one with your KiwiSaver, because that defeats the purpose of the savings scheme: to help people get into their first home – not give investors a leg-up. The criteria is a bit higher for those who have owned a home before, but your situation might be that it is worth going through the process and finding out where you stand. For previous home owners, your application is still made to your KiwiSaver provider, and it is Housing New Zealand as the Government entity who determine eligibility. A base eligibility check-list for previous home owners buying an existing/older home includes:

You have not previously used your KiwiSaver for a first-home withdrawal;
You have been a KiwiSaver member for at least three years;
You have previously owned a home but no longer own or have an interest in the property;
You do not have realisable assets totaling more than 20 percent of the regional house price cap for existing/older properties. Realisable assets are things you own that could be sold to help you buy a home (eg: car, boat or caravan worth more than $5,000.00, shares, investments etc). So if you were buying a home under the Rotorua Regional House Price Cap of $400,000, you can’t have realisable assets worth more than $80,000;
Your income level is under $85,000 in the previous 12 months for one buyer, and $130,000 in the previous 12 months for two or more buyers.

So there are still options if you are thinking about buying again, and wondering how it all works. If you’d like to talk about your situation further, get in touch with us or go to www.lawyersrotorua.co.nz or more info and other legal information blog posts - we’ll be more than happy to help you work everything through.

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