Housing Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed the Government is scrapping the First Home Grant.

The programme had paid up to $10,000 per person, to buy their first home. 

Bishop said ending the First Home Grant would save the Government $245 million over four years. Of that, he said the Government would use $140 million to fund 1500 new social housing places.

The new community housing spaces would be available from July next year, Bishop said.

The First Home Grant scheme allowed people who paid into KiwiSaver to get a top up, if they were buying houses within a price cap. The cap varied depending on where they were buying. 

You could get $1000 per year you have contributed to KiwiSaver, up to $5000, if you were buying an existing home. If you were buying a new build, you could get up to $10,000 after five years of contributions.

More than 10,000 people cashed in through this scheme last year.

Bishop said First Home Grants were not making significant contributions to first home buyers.

“Evidence shows the grant brings forward the purchase of a first home – but in most cases it does not make a difference to whether someone can buy a home or not," he said.

“The answer to New Zealand’s housing crisis is not demand-side measures like the First Home Grant, but supply-side solutions."