19 June 2024
James
[FYI request #26941 email]
Tēnā koe James
Thank you for your request to Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities, dated 22 May 2024, requesting
the following information under the Of icial Information Act 1982 (the Act):
1. How many cases have been reported or discovered if any, from Jan 2018 through to May 22
2024 where first home owners have rented out their house within the first 6 months of home
ownership without living in it first, thus breaching First Home Grant requirements and rules?
2. How many prosecutions have there been for the above, if any?
3. What has been the outcome?
4. What measures were put in place if any, to prevent this happening?
5. What monitoring of this issue if any was carried out and how often?
I wil respond to each part of your request in an asked and answered format below.
1. How many cases have been reported or discovered if any, from Jan 2018 through to May 22
2024 where first home owners have rented out their house within the first 6 months of home
ownership without living in it first, thus breaching First Home Grant requirements and rules?
I can confirm that from January 2018 to 22 May 2024 there were two instances of first homeowners
who rented out their house within the first six months of home ownership without living in the property
first.
2. How many prosecutions have there been for the above, if any?
There have not been any prosecutions in relation to breaches of the First Home Grant criteria.
3. What has been the outcome?
In situations where a homeowner is found to have breached the First Home Grant criteria, the grant
recipient either repays the grant in full to Kāinga Ora or is granted an exemption, based on their
individual circumstances.
4. What measures were put in place if any, to prevent this happening?
The following measures were put in place to prevent owners renting out their homes without living in
them.
i. Key criteria (including that owners must own and live in the property as their primary place of
residence) was published on the Kāinga Ora website and on First Home Grant
collateral/brochures.
ii. The application form included a requirement to sign a declaration stating,
"I understand there is
a condition that I use the purchased property as my primary place of residence for at least six
months from the date of settlement and I wil undertake to comply with this condition".
iii. Grant recipients were required to sign a First Home Grant Agreement stating they are to use
the property purchased using the First Home Grant as their primary place of residence for the
six month period following the payment of the Grant.
5. What monitoring of this issue if any was carried out and how often?
Monitoring is in place to help identify situations where the First Home Grant criteria may be being
breached. This is done through a third-party, who carries out daily monitoring of advertisements for
rent or sale of properties, and changes of ownership by way of land title. When these occur, they are
notified to Kāinga Ora to investigate and confirm whether a breach has occurred.
Please note that Kāinga Ora proactively releases our responses to official information requests where
possible. Our response to your request may be published at
kaingaora.govt.nz/publications/official-
information-requests/ with your personal information removed.
Nāku noa, nā
Nick Maling
General Manager – National Services
