The subsequent home withdrawal is designed to help keep a roof over your head if you are facing serious financial hardship. It can only be used in one of two situations:

  • To help you if you are behind in your mortgage payments and a mortgagee sale is imminent.
  • To buy out the interest of another person in your home or to buy another home in your own right, for example, following a relationship breakdown.

This benefit cannot be used to raise cash for any other purpose. You can apply for a significant financial hardship withdrawal if your mortgage is in arrears but the bank has not yet moved towards forcing a mortgagee sale.

How it works

The subsequent home withdrawal is designed so, in certain limited circumstances, you can withdraw some of your retirement savings to put towards buying a home or meeting your mortgage payments. You remain a member of the scheme, and your contributions continue. You do not have to pay the money back, and you will not lose any other benefit of being a member. You can only withdraw funds from the standard section. Any savings you have in the locked section are subject to KiwiSaver rules. Please call us to discuss your options if you need to withdraw funds from the locked section. Withdrawal options from the locked section are limited. We can only release locked funds under a court order (for example, as part of a relationship property settlement).

Check to see if you qualify

Use this decision tree to see if you qualify for a subsequent home withdrawal. Remember, it is not an automatic benefit. Any application you make will have to be approved by the trustee.

How much you can withdraw from your savings

The maximum amount you can withdraw is an amount equal to the balance of your standard accounts (member standard account and employer standard account). You can get an idea of the value of your standard accounts:

  • from your most recent annual account statement (sign in to your account at unisaver.co.nz – you’ll see your account statements listed at the bottom left of the home screen)
  • by calling the helpline on 0800 864 724.

Remember, the scheme’s purpose is to help you save for retirement, so leave some money in your account if you can.

A fee will be deducted from your account if your application is approved. See tax and fees for the current fee.