Benefits.

  • Buy your first home with as little as 5% deposit.
  • You own a share of your home and can work towards gaining full ownership as your savings and borrowing capacity increases.
  • If you have a KiwiSaver account you might also be eligible for additional assistance.

How it works.

Shared equity splits the cost of financing a home into 3 parts:

  • Your deposit
  • The Equity Partner share
  • The Choices Home Loan provided by Westpac.

Shared equity graph - Westpac NZ

Who is the Equity Partner?

  • The Equity Partner is normally a non-profit community organisation such as the New Zealand Housing Foundation, or a government affiliated organisation such as Kainga Ora. Certain Iwi-led organisations also provide shared equity to their hapu. 
  • The Equity Partner owns a share of your house equivalent to the amount of equity they put in, but they are not your landlord and you will not pay rent. You may be required to pay certain fees and charges.
  • The Equity Partner ownership share is not a loan. Your agreement with the Equity Partner has all the relevant terms and conditions that will apply, you will need to make sure you read and understand this agreement.
  • With support from the Equity Partner to help you budget, the intent is that you will eventually own the home outright.

Qualifying for Shared Equity Programme.

  • The home you are buying must be your first home which you intend to live in for at least three years.
  • You need to be a permanent New Zealand resident or New Zealand citizen.
  • The homes eligible for Shared Equity programme an annual income thresholds can vary amongst the Equity Providers. 

How to apply.

You should speak to your chosen Equity Partner to determine whether you are eligible to participate. You can use our calculators to help you work out approximately how much you can borrow from Westpac.

Once you have been accepted into a programme, you can apply for conditional approval1 with Westpac which will give you a budget to work with as you search for a home.

Get in touch with us and the Equity Partner that you choose, to find out if you’re eligible2 and discuss your options.

First home buyer story.

Get in touch.

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Things you should know.

1Conditional approval requires a credit check, confirmation of the details provided in your application and responsible lending inquiries. Other conditions may also apply depending on the nature of your application.

2Westpac's eligibility criteria, home loan lending criteria, terms and conditions apply. 

Terms, conditions and eligibility criteria may vary with each Equity Partner.

Documents and fees

View terms and conditions for all our home lending products