Buying with Friends & Family? Kiwibank’s Co-Own Mortgage Solution

Welcome back to our channel. Today, we will introduce another very special policy in Kiwibank’s mortgage policy, which is called Co-Own. This policy allows you to jointly own a mortgaged property with friends, parents, or siblings. In the current environment where policy restrictions have led to a continuous decrease in loan amounts, many people are considering borrowing and buying a property together with others. However, this model is typically classified as unconventional lending among all mainstream banks in New Zealand, making it difficult to get approved. To help more people achieve their dream of homeownership, Kiwibank introduced the Co-Own mortgage product at the end of 2022. The application requirements for this product are as follows:

1. Co-Own is available for a maximum of four individuals. This could be four friends or siblings getting together, or it could be two couples combining forces.
2. All borrowers are living in the same household or intend to.
3. Loan assessments are not based on the income of each applicant for loan amount allocation and individual calculations.
4. Each application calculates a total household expenditure based on the number of applicants.
5.  The loan term is not restricted by the age of the oldest applicant. In other words, if children are buying a house with their parents, the loan term will not be limited by the parents’ age.
6. There are deposit requirements where the total deposit will need to be over 20%, and at least one of the borrowers will need to demonstrate 5% genuine savings.

Overall, Kiwibank’s Co-Own product simplifies the previously difficult joint purchasing method and makes the loan approval process very straightforward, making this homeownership option competitive in loan amount calculations. It’s worth mentioning that the second requirement mentioned earlier states that all applicants must reside in the newly purchased property. However, for those who only want to cooperate in buying an investment property and intend to continue living in their own residences, Kiwibank’s current policy also provides detailed explanations and assessment criteria. Hopefully, this video gives you some insight into home buying with family and friends while helping you get onto the property ladder and purchase your dream home.   Disclaimer: The content in this article are provided for general situation purpose only. To the extent that any such information, opinions, views and recommendations constitute advice, they do not take into account any person’s particular financial situation or goals and, accordingly, do not constitute personalised financial advice. We therefore recommend that you seek advice from your adviser before taking any action.