16 May 2012

Hapu says borrowing against multiple-owned land a problem

9:36 am on 16 May 2012

Auckland hapu Ngati Whatua o Orakei has appealed to the Government to make it easier to borrow money to build on multiple-owned Maori land.

Loans are available through a partnership between Housing New Zealand and Kiwibank, but borrowers have to meet a strict criteria.

The special Kainga Whenua loan was established because ancestral land can not be offered as security - but figures show fewer than 10 loans have been issued over two years.

A trustee of Ngati Whatua o Orakei, Sharon Hawke, says they have asked Associate Minister of Housing Tariana Turia to revise the scheme.

Ms Hawke says one rule says the loans are for first-time home owners only - which cuts out a part of the sub-tribe's population.

She says the chair of the hapu will discuss the issue of building homes on Maori land at the World Indigenous Housing Conference in Vancouver in June.