Seminars open doors to bank of Mum and Dad

Many parents were now helping their children buy homes, particularly in Auckland and Christchurch. Photo / Thinkstock

Mortgage loan restrictions are making the "bank of Mum and Dad" so popular that one bank is running seminars on the best way for people to structure the deals.

New Zealand's biggest home lender, ANZ, is running "Leaving the Nest" information evenings, beginning in Remuera tomorrow then moving to the North Shore.

ANZ's Auckland retail and business banking general manager, Andrew Webster, said the seminars aimed to help parents give their offspring the 20 per cent deposit that many needed because of Reserve Bank restrictions on loan-to-value ratios.

The gifts, loans or guarantees weren't a way around the regulations but a response to high house prices and demand, he said.

Professional property adviser and manager Olly Newland has qualms about the seminars.

"It's the fox in the hen house. I know what they're trying to do - sell money," he said. "I don't think the ANZ should be doing this.

"People really need to go to a lawyer, accountant or adviser, not someone who's making money out of it. What if the kids go crazy, or there's divorce? Strange things happen to people's minds when there's money involved."

Mr Webster said many parents were now helping their children buy homes, particularly in Auckland and Christchurch, but there were pitfalls so the bank wants to provide more information.

"There are four key areas we'll be looking at in the seminars," he said. They were:

• Gifts, often from wealthy parents who had cash for the difference between savings and purchase prices.

• Family loans from parents that might not incur interest and would not necessarily have a fixed repayment period but could be repaid when a house was sold. Parents could borrow that money from the bank but often this type of loan was cash.

• Parents acting as a loan guarantor and become joint borrowers with their offspring, signing up for the mortgage on a property together and taking on all the responsibilities in common;

• Parents could give financial guarantees on loans so if there was a default, they would repay money.

• Mr Webster said people should take independent legal advice before embarking on any of the options.

• More seminar information at www.anz.co.nz.