A scheme devised by the Crown to enable Māori to own a home on their land has only granted four loans in the last 24 months.
Ancestral whenua (land) generally has more than one owner meaning the land cannot be sold, on this basis Māori applying for home loans do not have the standard requirements for mortgage sercurity.
Through a partnership with Housing New Zealand and Kiwibank, the Crown attempted to offer a solution to this problem by becoming a guarantor of Kainga Whenua loans.
However, figures from Housing New Zealand show only four loans have been issued – with a total value of $650,440.
The Chief Advisor Māori for the corporation, Tamati Olsen, says it’s still early days for the product and it’s a positive step in the right direction.
Mr Olsen says two further loans have been approved, but have yet to go through the legal process.
Last September, the Auditor-General found problems with the scheme.
It said as the programme is currently designed, most people who can afford the loan cannot get it and most people who can get the loan cannot afford it.
When Kainga Whenua loans were launched, Housing Minister Phil Heatley said demand for the product was likely to be modest.
Source: Radio NZ
kia ora , i think the loan scheme is unrealistic for those of us who live as ahi kaa ,on our own papakainga and in our own tribal rohe. Where i live in Turangi it is hard to find a job that earns 80k annually ,my wage in forestry is only half that, only other work industry here is corrections dept. and they dont earn much more than me. If i move to the city to make the big bucks,then im away from my papakainga and no longer qualify for the loan. Just another dissapointment in the eyes of our people.Dont mean to be a moaner but after all the injusticies that the crown have put us through over the years, its far too little, far too late ,and still not enough.