Earlier this month, Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson announced the government would make changes so rural people could use their KiwiSaver funds to buy their first home or farm.
The change allows service tenancy workers, such as farm staff, to use their KiwiSaver to buy their first home without having to live in it, Ms Willis said.
Mr Simpson said the change would also allow first-time farm buyers to put their KiwiSaver towards the purchase of a farm, through a commercial entity they majority own, where it would be their principal place of residence.
KiwiSaver rules currently allow the purchase of a farm under a KiwiSaver member’s name, as long as they intended to live on it.
However, in practice, most farms were purchased through a company or trust, he said.
“This reflects the commercial reality of modern farm ownership,” Mr Simpson said.
Sharemilker Hamish Jenkins, of Momona, said he would have liked the changes to have been made earlier in his career.
"It would have helped me out a lot if the options were available."
He would like the changes to go further and allow farmers to use their KiwSaver to buy livestock.
If a dairy farmer was seeking finance to buy a herd of cows, they needed a 50% deposit.
"If you could use your Kiwisaver to buy your herd of cows, it would make it so much easier."
A herd of 300 cows cost about $900,000 and required a deposit of about $450,000.
"Buying a house is easy, buying cows is bloody hard ... how does anyone come up with $450,000 these days?"
Federated Farmers dairy chairman Karl Dean said the changes announced by the government was a huge step forward for the next generation of farmers.
People only being able to withdraw their KiwiSaver funds to buy a house to live in was unfair .
"Farm staff, along with the likes of rural teachers and rural police, haven’t been able to get on the property ladder, all because they live remotely and in employer-provided accommodation.
"They’ve been denied the same opportunity as their urban counterparts."
The changes meant young rural workers could finally access their savings to secure financial security and begin building equity.
"It’s a massive result," Mr Dean said.
Legislation giving effect to the changes will be introduced to Parliament in the middle of the year.
