Can you use KiwiSaver to buy your first home?

Can you use your KiwiSaver to buy your first home?

Yes. The first-home withdrawal lets you take most of your KiwiSaver balance out early and put it towards buying your first home. It is the most used of the early-access routes out of KiwiSaver, and it is the main reason people who are decades from retirement still watch the balance.

The one hard condition at the front of it is time. Inland Revenue requires you to have been in KiwiSaver for at least three years before you can withdraw funds for a first home. If you are close to that mark, check the exact start date with your provider before you make plans around it.

What can you withdraw, and what has to stay in?

You can withdraw your own contributions, your employer's contributions, the government contribution, the interest you have earned, and any fee subsidies you received. In practice that is nearly the whole balance.

Two things cannot come out. You must leave $1,000 in your account, which keeps your membership alive. And funds transferred in from an Australian complying superannuation scheme cannot be withdrawn for a first home, so if you moved a balance across from Australia that portion stays put.

• Can be withdrawn: your contributions, your employer's contributions, the government contribution, interest earned, fee subsidies
• Must stay: $1,000
• Cannot be withdrawn: funds transferred from an Australian complying superannuation scheme

Who is eligible for a first-home withdrawal?

The withdrawal is for first-time home buyers who have been KiwiSaver members for at least three years. The property must be in New Zealand, and you must intend to live in it, so it cannot be used to buy an investment property.

Having owned property before does not automatically rule you out. Kāinga Ora can determine whether a previous home owner is in the same financial position as a first-home buyer. If it decides you are, it sends a letter to your KiwiSaver provider, and this route is sometimes called the second-chance withdrawal.

There are narrow situations with their own treatment, including some homes on farms and some employer-provided accommodation. If your circumstances are unusual, Kāinga Ora is the agency that decides eligibility, not your provider and not your bank.

Is the First Home Grant still available?

No. The New Zealand Government states plainly that the First Home Grant finished in May 2024 and is no longer available. It previously paid up to $5,000, or up to $10,000 for a new build, towards a deposit. Any advice or calculator that still includes it is out of date.

The First Home Partner scheme, a shared ownership scheme, is also closed to new applications. Government support for first-home buyers has been reshaped since 2024, so it is worth checking the current list rather than relying on what a friend used a few years ago.

The KiwiSaver first-home withdrawal itself was not affected and still operates. Other support that does still exist is listed below, each with its own eligibility rules.

• KiwiSaver first-home withdrawal: still available
• First Home Loan, underwritten by Kāinga Ora so a lender can accept a 5% deposit: still available
• Kāinga Whenua Loan for building or buying on Māori land: still available
• Tenant Home Ownership Grant for eligible Kāinga Ora tenants: still available
• First Home Grant: finished May 2024, no longer available
• First Home Partner: closed to new applications

How do you apply for a KiwiSaver first-home withdrawal?

You apply to your KiwiSaver provider, not to Inland Revenue. Your provider administers the withdrawal, approves it against the rules, and releases the money.

If you are a previous home owner there is an extra step first. Kāinga Ora makes the determination about whether you qualify and writes to your provider, but you still have to lodge the withdrawal application with your provider yourself.

Inland Revenue's part is evidence. You can use myIR to produce a PDF of your income and KiwiSaver deductions to support the application, which saves chasing payslips.

When does the money actually arrive?

Approved funds are paid to your solicitor, on or before settlement day, rather than into your own bank account. That is by design, because the money has to go towards the purchase.

Processing times are set by each provider and by Kāinga Ora where a determination is needed, and they are not fixed in the rules, so start early rather than in the week before settlement. Ask your provider what notice period they need and build it into your dates with your solicitor.

What does taking the money out mean for your retirement savings?

The withdrawn money leaves the account permanently. There is no repayment schedule and no requirement to put it back, so the balance restarts from the $1,000 that stayed behind plus whatever goes in from then on. That is simply how the scheme is designed, and it is worth knowing rather than discovering later.

Your membership continues after a first-home withdrawal. Contributions keep coming out of your pay at your chosen rate, your employer keeps contributing, and you remain eligible for the yearly government contribution on the same terms as before.

Whether a first-home withdrawal fits your plans, and how much to take, is a decision about your own money. Paagaa does not make that call. A licensed financial adviser or mortgage adviser can work through it with you, and a financial mentor can help for free if cost is the barrier.