Kāinga Whenua

Home ownership on multiply-owned Māori land

Tēnā koutou e te iwi. The Kāinga Whenua loan scheme is an initiative between Kiwibank and Kāinga Ora to help Māori achieve home ownership on multiply-owned Māori land.

The name Kāinga Whenua combines the concepts of home or homestead (kāinga) and connection to ancestral Maori owned lands (whenua/ahikaa).

Kāinga Whenua supports ahikaa and haukāinga to help address whānau housing aspirations and can be used to build, buy, renovate, repair or relocate a house on to your whenua Māori.

How it works

For individuals

• If you’re applying as an individual, you must have a right to live on multiply-owned Māori land (i.e. you hold a licence to occupy).
• A Kāinga Whenua loan is only secured against the house, not against the house and land as is usually the case with home loans.
• If you borrow up to $200,000, no deposit is required. If you want to borrow over $200,000, you'll require (at least) a 5% deposit for every dollar borrowed above $200,000. For example, a $400,000 loan would require a deposit of $10,000.
• There's no cap on the amount you can borrow, however you'll need to meet our normal affordability criteria.
• Kiwibank’s standard lending criteria apply.
• There is a Lenders' Mortgage Insurance fee payable to Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities to insure your Kāinga Whenua loan. The fee is 0.50% of the loan amount and can be added to the loan.
• If you're purchasing a relocatable house or building an offsite manufactured house, you may be able to use an escrow arrangement.

What are the steps I need to take?

For individuals

• See the Kāinga Ora website for eligibility requirements
• Apply for conditional approval
• Seek the support of the owners for your occupation on the block
• Confirm home design/construction
• Seek final loan approval from Kiwibank.

For collectives such as Māori land trusts and Māori incorporations

If you're looking at building multiple houses on whenua Māori, Kāinga Ora and Kiwibank may be able to help.

Developments and the building of one or more homes can make a big difference for your whānau.

Get in touch with one of our business banking specialists to talk through how we can support you through the Kāinga Whenua scheme.