One thousand Bay families take up HomeStart grant

Local MPs Todd Muller (left) and Simon Bridges are pleased with the number of Bay people taking advantage of the HomeStart grant. Photo/file

More than 1000 Bay families have used the HomeStart grant to buy their first home.

The scheme offers grants for first home buyers to help with deposits on a home, and enables first home buyers to access their KiwiSaver funds.

Tauranga MP Simon Bridges said HomeStart was the most generous government support scheme for home buyers in over a generation, and it was being used more and more by young people to help with home ownership.

From March 2016 to April 2017, the scheme has helped 393 people in Tauranga with more than $2m in grants, Mr Bridges said.

This was in addition to the 449 first home buyers that benefited in the first year of the scheme and the $2.4m in grants.

"The grants can help our young people overcome the most difficult hurdle of pulling together the funds for a deposit, and is forecast to help 90,000 first home buyers across New Zealand by 2020," Mr Bridges said.

"Home ownership provides stability for families, strength for communities, and security in retirement.

"We are working hard so more people in our community can achieve the Kiwi dream of owning their own home.

The scheme was proving to be a "huge success" in helping more people in the Bay of Plenty region into home ownership, Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller said.

He said in total the HomeStart Grant scheme helped out 1085 local families in both Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty, at a combined value of $5.7m.

East Coast MP Anne Tolley said the scheme had helped 335 people across Whakatane, Opotiki and Kawerau districts with $1.4m in grants.