Secure Home

Purpose

Secure Home is an assisted ownership programme which was borne out of a Mayoral Housing Taskforce in 2017. We acknowledge our long-term stakeholder, QLDC for their input into the design of this programme.

We also acknowledge and thank the New Zealand Government for its support in helping to fund this programme.

Secure Home's purpose is to provide an opportunity to purchase your own decent, warm and dry home, at an affordable price.

Secure Home is a far better alternative to renting on the private market, as it gives you housing stability and at the time you exit, you get your money back from the purchase, leaving you in better financial position. 

How does it work?

Secure Home is based on a leasehold ownership tenure. 

You pay an Upfront Payment (purchase price) for the home based on its construction costs only (no margins added). QLCHT registers a 100-year lease over the land in your name, giving you the right to occupy the home for your lifetime. 

The Secure Home structure provides affordability as you're not having to buy the land (which in our district is the most expensive part), and instead you pay a monthly Ground Rent to QLCHT for use of the land. 

As QLCHT is not considered a landlord under Secure Home, you are responsible for the property in the same way any homeowner would be. Which means taking care of things like house insurance, council rates and maintenance. You are required to follow a maintenance schedule, issued to you at the start of the agreement.      

Secure Home requires a commitment to remain in the property for the first three years, but after that you can sell the home back to QLCHT at any time, for any reason. We will buy the property back from you for the same price you paid, PLUS an inflation adjustment for the period of time you've owned the property.

What does it cost?

Upfront Payment - This is the purchase price. As with any home purchase, you would use your deposit and a home loan from a partnering bank.

Deposit - The banks may require a 20% deposit, however if you qualify for the Government's First Home Loan initiative, your deposit requirement is reduced to as low as 5%.

Ground Rent - this is set around 1.5% per annum of the land value, established at the time you enter into Secure Home. The land value is locked in at the start, with monthly Ground Rent payments adjusted each year only to keep up with inflation.

There are other standard home ownership costs such as house insurance, Council rates and maintenance. 

Raising your deposit

There are a number of ways you can raise a deposit, such as using your savings, cashing up investments or family gifting. As Secure Home is a nationally recognised programme, you can also access the Government's First Home Ownership products (subject to meeting the relevant eligibility criteria), see below:

KiwiSaver First Home Withdrawal - allows you to withdraw your KiwiSaver funds to put towards your deposit.

KiwiSaver First Home Grant - provides a free one-off grant of up to $10,000 per Kiwisaver account, to put towards your deposit. 

Example of cost

Below is an example of weekly Secure Home costs, for a three-bedroom home with 10% deposit: 

Secure Home Calculator

Visit our easy-to-use Secure Home Calculator and work out how much Secure Home would cost you on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis, by calculating your home loan and Ground Rent payments.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the Secure Home programme, you must first meet our general eligibility criteria for housing assistance. 

You must also be able to raise sufficient home lending with a partnering bank, in order to meet the Upfront Payment. The bank will need to see you have the required deposit and sufficient income to service a home loan. They'll also want to obtain a satisfactory credit check.   

Secure Home Agreements

You can view our template Secure Home Agreement and Secure Home Financial Declaration and Acknowledgement here. Please note that these are templates only and may be subject to change.