KiwiBuild applications hit nearly 6000 as Kiwis rush to get in

The Government has already received 5950 registrations of interest from Kiwis eager to gain access to affordable housing through the KiwiBuild programme.

The figure quickly reached 1000 applications this morning and has steadily increased over the course of the day to hit 5950 by 4:45pm. At one point, 15 people were registering a minute.

This means there have already been more applications today than the number of homes that would be completed in 2020.

Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford this morning said 1000 KiwiBuild homes would be built in 2018/19, 5000 in 2019/20, 10,000 in 2020/21 and 12,000 a year average through to 2028.

Twyford also revealed the terms and conditions of the new scheme aimed to develop 50,000 new Auckland homes.

The eligibility criteria for KiwiBuild home buyers are:

• First-home buyers or "second chancers";
• New Zealand citizens, permanent residents or those who ordinarily reside in New Zealand;
• Intend to own, and live in it, for at least three years;
• Income below $120,000 for sole purchasers and $180,000 for couples.

"People can check the eligibility criteria and will soon be able to pre-qualify for the first homes currently being constructed and the thousands more that will be built by KiwiBuild in the years ahead," Twyford said.

Given the enormous interest in the programme, the Government will use a ballot to ensure fair distribution of the affordable housing as it is built.

Twyford said that KiwiBuild's major challenges are "land availability, workforce constraints, consenting time frames, development and build times and growth capacity constraints".

But he cited the Housing NZ Corp development at Auckland's McLennan estate at Papakura as the first KiwiBuild success where the first 30 homes are being built and three-bedroom places are being sold for around $579,000 each "and we will have families moving in October".

These families will have to hold their new homes for a minimum three years, although exemptions will be allowed in some circumstances, Twyford said.