First Home Buyers

First-home buyers in Christchurch regularly ask us whether KiwiSaver and the First Home Loan are the same thing. They are not. In our work across Canterbury, from freehold townhouses in Wigram from $617,000 (as of 2026) to family-focused house-and-land opportunities in Prebbleton from $849,000 (as of 2026), the real issue is usually simpler: do you need more deposit cash, a lower deposit hurdle, or...

The 5% scheme rules summary - quick recap The short version: as of 2026, a Kāinga Ora First Home Loan lets eligible buyers purchase with a 5% deposit, no First Home Loan house price cap, and a 1.2% Lenders' Mortgage Insurance premium for new applications made after 1 July 2025, but income caps, owner-occupier rules, land-size limits and lender servicing still apply. This article is the calculator...

If you want to buy first home Riccarton in 2026, you are targeting one of Christchurch's most convenient inner-west suburbs and one of its trickier first-home budgets. Riccarton combines CBD access, retail, buses, university adjacency and established schooling, so demand stays broad. For the wider city picture, start with our Christchurch first-home buyer guide; this article narrows the focus to what those...

If you are searching for first home buyer grants NZ 2026, the key update is simple: there is no active nationwide cash grant open to new applicants in New Zealand as of May 2026. The live first-home support tools are the Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities First Home Loan, the KiwiSaver first-home withdrawal, and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) new-build exemption from the loan-to-value ratio...

Working out how much deposit to build a house NZ buyers need in Canterbury is harder than it sounds, because the answer depends on the loan structure, the contract type and whether the bank treats your purchase as an exempt new build. At Tailored Homes, we have spent 16 years and delivered more than 100 homes across Christchurch and Canterbury, and we regularly see buyers weighing low-maintenance freehold...

Bank pre-approval is the first practical step in a new-build journey, not the last. At Tailored Homes, we have spent 16 years delivering more than 100 homes across Canterbury, and our team sees the same pattern again and again: buyers who sort finance early make cleaner decisions on sections, packages, and build contracts. This guide explains how bank pre-approval works for a new build in New Zealand, what...

When buyers search lvr new build exemption nz, what they usually want to know is simple: why can a brand-new townhouse, turnkey package, or off-plan home sometimes be bought with far less cash up front than an older house? The short answer is that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) treats qualifying new-build lending differently from ordinary low-deposit lending, and that difference can open the door...

When people search for 5 deposit home loan, they are usually asking a simpler question: can I buy or build in New Zealand with only 5% saved? Sometimes yes. The answer depends on the property, your income, your existing debts, and whether the lender sees the deal as a standard low-deposit purchase, a new-build exemption, or a Kainga Ora-backed application.At Tailored Homes, we have spent 16 years...

If you want to buy your first home in Christchurch, a generic New Zealand checklist will only get you so far. Christchurch is a local market with its own price bands, its own suburb trade-offs, and a very real difference between buying an older house, a new townhouse, or a standalone new build in Selwyn. This guide is written by Tailored Homes, a Canterbury builder and developer with 16 years of experience...

The deposit for building a house is usually three different numbers, not one. At Tailored Homes, one of the most common finance questions we hear is: how much deposit do I actually need to build? The confusion is understandable. Buyers often use one phrase to describe three separate cash requirements: the deposit on the land, the deposit or first payment under the build contract, and the total equity a...