Ngaro Alfred: Oral questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeNgaro Alfred: Oral questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 31 March 2015. Volume:704;Page:2708. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]5.ALFRED NGARO (National) to the Minister for Building and Housing: How many families is the Government budgeting to benefit from the new HomeStart programme and how will prospective homeowners be able to find out their eligibility?Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for Building and Housing): The Government has budgeted $435 million for HomeStart grants over the next 5 years in which we expect 90000 first-home buyers to access the extra support of up to $20000 to buy a new home. The grant entitlement rules do vary according to a person’s income the house price by region and the number of years that they have contributed to KiwiSaver. Housing New Zealand tomorrow will be launching a new website and information campaign to highlight the scheme and to encourage uptake.Alfred Ngaro: What deposit would an average family earning the average wage with no other savings be able to access in a higher-cost housing market like Auckland and what other support does the Government have available to help them secure a mortgage?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: The new HomeStart would mean that a typical Auckland couple each earning $50000 per year and who have been in KiwiSaver for 5 years would be able to withdraw $35000. This is a greater amount because of the legislation we passed last week that enables them to withdraw their Government contribution the employer contribution as well as their own savings. They will also be eligible tomorrow for a new HomeStart grant of $20000 for a new home giving them a total deposit of $55000 with no other savings. Tomorrow we are also changing the eligibility rules for the Welcome Home Loan so this same couple will be able to purchase a home with a 10 percent deposit and a Government guarantee on a house up to a value of $550000.Phil Twyford: Is he aware that his own figures show that only an additional 40000 people will be eligible and that the $212 million budget that he is gloating about means a miserable $2000 on average for each prospective homeowner under this policy and with Auckland house prices rising at $1700 a week what is he going to do when 8 days of house price inflation wipes out his policy and he is back at square one?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: Firstly I would note that house price inflation under this Government has been significantly lower than what it was under Labour. During 1999 to 2008 house prices more than doubled. They went up by more than 28 percent in a single year. What we know is that the Government does not control house prices. What it can do is help young families pool together a deposit for a home and as a consequence of our policy tomorrow there will be up to 90000 families over the next 5 years who will get a grant of up to $20000 and I think that is great news.Marama Fox: What changes has the Government made to the scheme in response to concerns from the Māori Party that access to KiwiSaver savings and Government support has not been available to homes on Māori land?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: The KiwiSaver Act 2006 did discriminate against access to KiwiSaver funds and grants if a person was buying a house on multiple-owned Māori land. This issue was raised by the Māori Party with the Government during the policy development of Homestart. We believed it was an error by the previous Government and should be corrected. That is why we with the Māori Party passed a change in the law last week that will enable young Māori families to access both the withdrawal and the Homestart grants for multiple-owned Māori land in the same way that every other New Zealander has access to these schemes.