Parents and grandparents are being warned to think carefully before handing over their nest egg to relatives desperate to buy a first home.
New Reserve Bank lending restrictions kick in tomorrow. The new measures will make it harder for Rotorua house hunters to get a home loan with less than 20 per cent deposit - sparking fears many first-home buyers will turn to family to help raise the necessary funds.
As the restrictions loom, Age Concern has issued a warning to its members, saying many parents may be pressured to lend their younger family members money or sign on as a guarantor for their mortgage.
Rotorua Age Concern manager Hillary Thole said she had not seen any instances locally, but many of the older people she dealt with were in retirement villages.
Because the lending restrictions were so new, it was difficult to tell what impact they would have, she said.