The First Home Grant closed to new applications at 1pm on 22 May 2024. Nothing replaced it. If you're searching for it now, you're chasing money that no longer exists, and you're far from the only one, because half the internet hasn't updated its pages.
This page explains what happened to the grant, why the last approvals expired in late 2024, and what remains for a first home buyer in 2026. Three things still exist. One gets you in the door with a 5% deposit, and it's worth more than the grant ever was.
The short answer
The First Home Grant closed to new applications at 1pm on 22 May 2024. It was cut in Budget 2024 and nothing has replaced it.
First Home Partner is discontinued too. The shared-ownership option went at the same time.
The Kāinga Ora First Home Loan is still running, with a 5% minimum deposit and no house price cap.
Your KiwiSaver first home withdrawal is still there, averaging about $46,000 per member in June 2026 (Inland Revenue, published 24 July 2026).
Low-deposit bank lending is real. In June 2026, 50.2% of first home buyer mortgages were approved with less than a 20% deposit (RBNZ).
What happened to the First Home Grant?
It was cut as part of Budget 2024 and closed to new applications the same day the decision was announced, at 1pm on 22 May 2024.
The grant paid up to $10,000 to eligible KiwiSaver members buying a first home. Closing it saves about $245 million over four years, with $140 million of new funding going to roughly 1,500 social housing places delivered by housing providers outside Kāinga Ora (Budget 2024, as reported by 1News on 22 May 2024).
Whether you agree with that trade or not, the position is settled. There's no application form, no waiting list and no replacement in the pipeline.
Can I still apply if I was mid-application in 2024?
No, that window shut a long time ago.
Applications lodged before the 1pm cutoff were still processed, and approvals already granted stayed valid for six months from the approval date. Do the arithmetic: the last of them ran out around late November 2024. Anyone holding a First Home Grant pre-approval today is holding a piece of paper.
If you've been sitting on a plan built around a $10,000 grant, rebuild it around your KiwiSaver balance and your deposit percentage instead.
What about The First Home Partner Scheme?
Also gone. The First Home Partner Scheme was the shared-ownership option, where Kāinga Ora took a stake alongside you and you bought that share back over time. It's discontinued and closed to new applicants.
There's no shared-equity replacement for a general first home buyer right now. Private shared-ownership and rent-to-own offers exist, and they need real scrutiny before you sign, because the terms vary enormously and some are expensive.
So what actually still exists?
Three things, in order of how much they'll move your position.
1. The Kāinga Ora First Home Loan: a 5% deposit
This is the one that changes what's possible, and it's why the grant's closure hurts less than it sounds.
5% deposit minimum. Not 10%, not 20%.
Income cap of $95,000 for one borrower with no dependants.
Income cap of $150,000 for one borrower with dependants, or for two or more borrowers combined.
No house price cap. Removed in Budget 2022, and plenty of websites still show the old regional caps.
A 1.2% premium paid to Kāinga Ora, either upfront or added to your loan.
Exempt from both the LVR and the debt-to-income restrictions.
The loan is underwritten by Kāinga Ora and lent by participating lenders. Kāinga Ora no longer publishes that lender list and secondary sources contradict each other, so treat any website naming specific banks with suspicion. We'll tell you the best banks to go through for this scheme.
On the Auckland first home buyer median of $900,000, a 5% deposit is $45,000 and the loan is $855,000, putting the premium at about $10,260. Kāinga Ora calls that premium Lender's Mortgage Insurance.
The honest catch is the arithmetic between the income cap and the price. A combined $150,000 income against an $855,000 loan is a genuine stretch once a lender applies its test rate, so this route lands better in Papakura, Manurewa or Henderson than it does in Takapuna.
Low deposit home loans · Mortgage broker South Auckland
2. Your KiwiSaver first home withdrawal
Still there, still the largest single line in most first home deposits, and untouched by the grant's closure.
You need three years of KiwiSaver membership, not three years of contributions, and you must leave $1,000 in the account. Everything above that is available, other than money transferred in from an Australian complying superannuation scheme.
In June 2026, 4,370 members withdrew $200.9 million between them for a first home, an average of about $46,000 each (Inland Revenue figures published 24 July 2026). For a couple who've both been in a while, that's most of a 10% Auckland deposit.
KiwiSaver first home withdrawal: how it actually works
3. Low deposit lending through the banks
The least advertised of the three, and the one most first home buyers write off without asking.
A 20% deposit is not a legal requirement in New Zealand. The Reserve Bank sets a speed limit on the bank, not a hurdle on you: banks may write up to 25% of their new owner-occupier lending above 80% LVR. That's a cap on their book, not a test of your application.
Where it gets interesting. Banks aren't using the full allowance. Under 15% of new owner-occupier lending sat above 80% LVR at the last count (RBNZ Financial Stability Report, May 2026), so there's genuine room in that pool. This funding often goes to the mortgage applications that are packaged properly and put in front of the right lender at the right time of the month. This is part of our job.
Below 20%, most lenders apply a low equity margin which is an interest rate on top of the standard interest rate. Usually 0.25-0.35% for a 15% deposit and 0.75% for a 10% deposit. The structure varies, so we'll price the real dollar cost for your situation before you commit. Call us on 022 305 5696 and we'll tell you which lender to go to first.
What should I do instead of chasing a grant?
Stop looking for free money and start closing the gap between your deposit and your approval. That's where the actual dollars are, and it moves faster than a grant ever did.
Add up your real deposit. KiwiSaver, savings, a gift from family, and consider the 5% deposit route. Most people underestimate their deposit because nobody has added it up in front of them.
Cut your credit card limit. Most lenders assess the limit rather than the balance. A $10,000 card you clear every month is still treated as $10,000 of debt.
Clean up three months of bank statements. Unarranged overdrafts, dishonoured direct debits and regular online gambling cost more approvals than small deposits do.
Get a pre-approval. Before you fall in love with a house, know the price range you are looking at.
Ask which lender, not which rate. Test rates and bank policies vary across the banks so make sure you get advice from an adviser for which bank suits your situation and why.
The $10,000 grant was worth about 1.1% of the Auckland first home buyer median. Choosing the lender that reads your income properly is routinely worth more than that, and nobody had to legislate it.
What does honest maths look like in Auckland?
First home buyers made up 30% of every Auckland purchase in the first quarter of 2026 (Cotality-Westpac First Home Buyer Report, May 2026). Their median purchase price was $900,000 in Auckland, against an all-buyer Auckland median of $940,000 in July 2026 (REINZ, released 13 August 2026).
On $900,000, the three deposit numbers are $180,000 at 20%, $90,000 at 10% and $45,000 at 5%. And 50.2% of first home buyer mortgages approved in June 2026 had less than a 20% deposit, which was 1,358 out of 2,707 (RBNZ). Half the people who got in last month did it under 20%.
The harder part is what sits alongside the deposit. Rates are rising, not falling. The OCR was lifted 25 basis points to 2.50% on 8 July 2026 and all five main banks moved between late July and 10 August 2026.
As at 15 August 2026, main bank special fixed rates run about 4.95% to 4.99% for one year and 5.39% to 5.45% for two. Build your plan on that direction, not on last year's.
When the 5% route isn't the right move
We'd rather say this now than let you find out at application.
If your income is comfortably over the Kāinga Ora caps, the First Home Loan isn't available to you, and the answer is ordinary low-deposit lending with a low equity margin priced in. That's a normal, everyday approval.
If you're at 5% and buying at the top of your approval, think hard. Auckland's house price index is down 1.7% year on year and 20.9% of Auckland resales in July 2026 sold at a loss, with a typical loss of $60,000 (as reported alongside the July 2026 REINZ release on 13 August 2026). Buying at 95% works when you're staying put for years. It's a real risk when you're not.
If your deposit is under 5% with no gift coming, there's effectively nothing for you in the New Zealand market yet. Work out a savings plan to build up your deposit, are there areas you can cut back on spending? Could you look at ways to improve your income, maybe start a little side hustle?
What to do next
Delete the grant from your plan. It closed on 22 May 2024. Any website telling you otherwise hasn't been touched in two years.
Find your KiwiSaver join date and available balance, with any Australian-transferred portion identified separately.
Check your income against the Kāinga Ora caps: $95,000 single with no dependants, $150,000 otherwise or combined.
Get your borrowing figure in writing before you go to an open home, so you're comparing houses to a number rather than a hope.
We do this every day. You'll do it a handful of times in your entire working career. In most cases our advice costs you nothing. We're paid by the lender you choose, and we're paid much the same either way, so the recommendation is about the clients interest rather than the commission. In a small number of situations a fee applies, and we'll always tell you before any work begins. It's all set out in our disclosure statement.
Call us on 022 305 5696 or send your details through and we'll come back to you the same working day.
We're available 8am to 8pm, seven days. No obligation, and nothing gets submitted to a lender without your say-so. Here to give you guidance and educate you through the process of buying property.
