Source: Radio New Zealand
Finance Minister Nicola Willis announces changes to KiwiSaver for live-in service workers, on Sunday 1 March, alongside Rangitīkei MPs Suze Redmayne and Mike Butterick, at his Wairarapa farm. RNZ/ Anneke Smith
The government is changing KiwiSaver laws so first-time farm buyers and other workers with ‘live in’ job residences can use their accounts to buy a first home.
For more than a decade, people have been able to withdraw from their KiwiSaver accounts to purchase a first home, so long as they live in the home they buy.
Minister of Finance Nicola Willis said the rules had unfairly prevented people with jobs that require them to live in provided housing from getting on the property ladder.
“Workers in service tenancies, such as farm workers, rural teachers, country cops, and defence personnel, have effectively been locked out of first home withdrawal because their jobs require them to live in employer-provided housing,” she said.
“[That’s] not fair, so we’re making a technical change to the KiwiSaver Act to ensure workers in service tenancies aren’t denied the opportunity to put a foot on the property ladder.
“The change will allow service tenancy workers to use their KiwiSaver for a first home purchase without having to live in it.”
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson said the law would also be changed to allow first-time farm buyers to put their KiwiSaver balances towards the purchase of a farm through a commercial entity they majority own, where it will be their principal place of residence.
KiwiSaver rules currently allow the purchase of a farm under a KiwiSaver member’s name – so long as they intend to live on it – though in practice most farms are purchased through a company or trust, he said.
“This reflects the commercial reality of modern farm ownership. Most farms are purchased through companies or trusts. Until now, that has prevented aspiring farmers from accessing KiwiSaver in the same way as someone buying a house in town.”
“The reforms deliver on the Government’s commitment to back rural New Zealand and remove unnecessary barriers. These are targeted, practical changes that maintain KiwiSaver’s core purpose, while making the scheme fairer for rural communities,” Simpson said.
Legislation giving effect to the changes will be introduced to Parliament in the middle of the year.
The changes reflect the ideas put forward in a member’s bill in the name of National MP for Rangitīkei Suze Redmayne.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
