Couple cash in at an opportune time

Sam Lecky says KiwiSaver made house-buying easier. Photo / Kenny Rodger

Sam Lecky says she and partner Owen Bennett would still be trying to scrounge together a deposit for their first home if it were not for KiwiSaver.

They have made an offer on a "cute 1950s bungalow" near the centre of Whangarei, using $7000 withdrawn from Bennett's KiwiSaver account.

Lecky says Bennett signed up to the scheme with a first home in mind, "knowing full well that he wasn't good at saving".

She is also a KiwiSaver but has not been in the scheme long enough to be able to withdraw any funds.

They have had to contribute some money on top of KiwiSaver to buy the $310,000 property but she says having the KiwiSaver money available makes it much easier.

Lecky says if they had been in the KiwiSaver scheme longer, the amount that they could have withdrawn would have covered the whole deposit.

"It's quite a straightforward process."

Lecky believes KiwiSaver is a good way to get young people into the habit of saving rather than spending.