There are concerns KiwiBuild may create greater inequality in the NZ housing market as the Prime Minister welcomed 18 families into their KiwiBuild homes today with a street party.
The McLennan development in Papakura is the first to be completed as part of the government's plan to build 100,000 homes over the next decade.
However, the Salvation Army argues the Government is not doing enough for those on low incomes, creating greater inequity.
The Salvation Army’s Alan Johnston said: "What we're interested in is not just the people who might scrape into home ownership, but the tens of thousands of households just below who won’t ever get into home ownership, particularly with rents rising".
Couple Derryn Jayne and Fletcher Ross paid $649,000 for their four-bedroom home after their names were pulled out of a ballot.
"We felt like we won the Lotto when we found out that we were successful in the home and we knew we were competing against other families but we're so grateful we’ve been given this opportunity," they said.
Social agencies say developments such as the one in Papakura are great for New Zealanders with middle to high incomes, but ultimately, they make housing affordability even worse.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, "Those in the middle deserve access to the housing market as well. They have been locked out and that’s what KiwiBuild is all about".
Ms Ardern also said those with lower incomes "absolutely" deserve to enter the housing market as well.
"We're working on building on 6400 state and public housing. It's why we're investing in housing first - we're investing across the board."
Ms Jayne and Mr Ross are pleased to give up renting.
"We definitely wouldn't have been able to do it without the support of KiwiBuild," they said.
The Government has just 99,982 KiwiBuild homes to go.
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