NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Business / Companies / Banking and finance

Covid 19 coronavirus: More than 100,000 Kiwis taking mortgage relief

Liam Dann
By Liam Dann
Business Editor at Large·NZ Herald·
29 Apr, 2020 05:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Home owners have been seeking mortgage relief. Photo / File

Home owners have been seeking mortgage relief. Photo / File

More than 100,000 households are now seeking some form of mortgage relief, according to the latest data from the New Zealand Bankers Association.

New figures show 49,821 borrowers have deferred all loan payments under the six month mortgage holiday scheme.

A further 53,323 have reduced payments, either to interest only or a smaller repayment of principal.

READ MORE:
• Premium - Covid-19 coronavirus: NZ major banks eye emergency relief for SME, mortgage borrowers
• Covid 19 coronavirus: Banks report 10,000 plus Kiwis seeking six month home-loan holiday
• Premium - Covid 19 coronavirus: New numbers show Kiwis rushing to banks for mortgage relief
• Covid-19 coronavirus: Jacinda Ardern announces mortgage holiday for affected workers in scheme with banks

ANZ - New Zealand's largest bank - said it had deferred 19,600 home loan repayments and moved 20,900 home loans to interest-only.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

As of Tuesday BNZ said had processed more than 16,000 applications for some change to their mortgage repayments.

About 55 per cent of those were opting for interest only, about 19 per cent had opted for lower repayments, with 26 per cent taking up the six-month payment deferral.

Westpac said it had received more than 19,500 requests for home loan deferrals or reductions, and processed roughly 85 per cent of them.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

ASB said it had helped 18,057 customers with home loan relief, both mortgage deferral and interest only.

That number included customers who owned their own home and customers who are using their home as security for their business.

A Kiwibank spokesperson said their total number of Covid-19 related inquiries was now over 13,000.

"For personal banking, we've received about 5500 requests from customers requiring home loan assistance," she said.

"To date more than 2500 of our personal customers have opted for a home loan repayment deferral (mortgage holiday) and another 2500 have taken up the interest only support option. Another 200 or so have opted for a term extension."

So far demand for the business lending support has been lower with a total of just 16,170 businesses seeking to restructure loans or to reduce or defer payments from their bank.

Data on new lending shows 9700 new business loans have been issued. That data doesn't yet include loans under the Government backed business finance guarantee scheme.

Those are still being collated although the individual banks have some early data.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

ANZ said it was working through a number of applications for the Government guaranteed business finance scheme but it was becoming clear that most customers didn't want to take on additional debt once they realise other Covid support options were available to them.

ANZ is also offering business customers increased overdraft options and cutting transaction fees.

As of April 23 it had granted 1733 temporary overdraft facilities to businesses needing more working capital, worth nearly $31 million.

"We expect scheme numbers will increase as the economic impact is felt across the New Zealand business community, especially as wage subsidy funds are paid out and businesses need additional support to get back on track over the coming months," an ANZ spokesperson said.

ASB said it had helped more than 9,000 business customers access various relief packages.

This included providing principal relief arrangements for more than 9,400 customers, granting loan holidays to another 5,300 customers and providing about 1,600 customers with temporary or permanent overdraft facilities, among other measures.

ASB had received almost 2000 inquiries about the business finance guarantee scheme and expected that to grow.

To date the BNZ had provided assistance for more than 17,000 business customers to a value of $16 billion - using a mix of its own support measures such overdraft extensions and the Government-guaranteed loan scheme.

ANZ has deferred 19,600 home loan repayments and moved 20,900 home loans to interest-only, while BNZ had processed more than 21,000 applications for some change to their mortgage repayments. Photo / Michael Craig
ANZ has deferred 19,600 home loan repayments and moved 20,900 home loans to interest-only, while BNZ had processed more than 21,000 applications for some change to their mortgage repayments. Photo / Michael Craig

In total more than 230,000 customers had been in contact to discuss their banking situation at some level, BNZ says.

Kiwibank said it had provided a range of assistance measures to more than 3500 business customers in total.

"We've received more than 650 requests for a Business Support Loan and are working through processing them now," a spokesperson said.

In regard to the Business Finance Guarantee Scheme, Kiwibank had received 142 formal applications from customers for loans totalling around $21m, she said.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Banking and finance

Business|companies

House prices to be 20% lower in real terms by mid-2030s - forecast

18 Jun 08:42 PM
Business|companies

Major banks halt over-counter deposits into others' accounts

15 Jun 07:37 PM
Interest rates

Final big bank drops home loan rates after OCR cut

12 Jun 05:52 AM

Kaibosh gets a clean-energy boost in the fight against food waste

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Banking and finance

House prices to be 20% lower in real terms by mid-2030s - forecast

House prices to be 20% lower in real terms by mid-2030s - forecast

18 Jun 08:42 PM

House prices will be 20% lower in real terms by the mid-2030s than in 2021.

Major banks halt over-counter deposits into others' accounts

Major banks halt over-counter deposits into others' accounts

15 Jun 07:37 PM
Final big bank drops home loan rates after OCR cut

Final big bank drops home loan rates after OCR cut

12 Jun 05:52 AM
ASB offers $150,000 interest-free loans for farm solar systems

ASB offers $150,000 interest-free loans for farm solar systems

09 Jun 11:51 PM
Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style
sponsored

Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP