Apply for First Home Partner
Applying for pre-approval will confirm that you meet the First Home Partner eligibility criteria and get an estimate of what Kāinga Ora’s contribution to a home purchase may be. Applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis, and subject to demand and available funding.
Applying for pre-approval
1. Check you are eligible
If you haven't already, check to see if you meet the eligible criteria
2. Gather your documents
You will need electronic copies (for example, PDFs) of all of these documents to submit as part of your online application.
Your New Zealand birth certificate, driver’s licence, citizenship certificate, passport and/or visa status.
You need to provide a summary of earnings for the last 12 months from Inland Revenue for everyone who is applying for First Home Partner.
To get the income details, follow the steps below:
- Go to www.ird.govt.nz(external link)
- Click on myIR login and use your IRD Online Services user name and password
- Go to your Income Tax account and select more
- Go to My income and select Print income details
- In the From field select the date 12 months earlier to the current date
- In the To field select the current date
- Select Print Income Details
- Right mouse click and select Print and save as a PDF file
This will create a PDF document that can be emailed.
Watch the videos below for instructions on how to produce your last 12 month income statement:
- English(external link)
- Māori(external link)
- Samoan(external link)
- Tongan(external link)
- Chinese(external link)
Self-employed applications can instead provide:
- an individual tax return (IR3)
- an individual tax return prepared by an accountant
- a summary of income for the most recent tax year
Copies of your bank statements for the previous three months, including evidence of your deposit contribution and KiwiSaver withdrawals.
A signed copy of the Kāinga Ora First Home Partner Statutory Declaration [PDF, 58 KB].
You will need to complete and make a Statutory Declaration, along with all your supporting documents in front of an authorised person. This confirms that all the information you provide in your application is accurate and genuine.
An authorised person in New Zealand can be a Justice of the Peace, a solicitor or notary public, or a Registrar or Deputy Registrar of the District or High Courts.
3. Submit your application
- create a Kāinga Ora account in the First Home Partner Portal
- complete your account profile
- upload your supporting certified eligibility documents
- submit your application
You will receive an automated email acknowledging your application. You will need to allow up to 5 working days for your application to be processed - if we need more information from you, we will contact you within that time to request it.
Contact us
If you have questions before you apply, or need help with your application, you can:
- Phone us on 0508 935 266
- Email us at firsthome.enquiries@kaingaora.govt.nz
Page updated: 27 September 2023