Wednesday 10 April 2019
BNZ teams up with YouOwn to launch shared ownership option for new home owners
BNZ and YouOwn have teamed up to offer New Zealanders a new and innovative option that may be an answer to getting into
their first home faster.
In December BNZ announced it was working with a trusted industry partner to support customers into shared ownership as a
home ownership option.
Today, BNZ’s Chief Customer Officer Paul Carter announced the partner is YouOwn – a privately funded organisation
established with the sole purpose of delivering a co-ownership product to New Zealanders.
“We’ve been working to create a unique option for new home owners. YouOwn’s Nigel Spratt already has experience offering
shared-ownership options through his previous work with the New Zealand Housing Foundation. He understands intimately
how shared-ownership works”, says Mr Carter.
With 12 years of experience working with shared ownership programmes Executive Director of YouOwn Nigel Spratt says the
opportunity to offer shared-ownership to more New Zealanders has been carefully thought out and meticulously prepared.
“Working closely with the team at BNZ, we’re able to deliver an exciting new product that will lend a helping hand to
some home buyers through a concept that’s easy to understand and simple to engage with”, says Mr Spratt.
Since announcing the shared-ownership plans in December, BNZ’s animation explaining how shared-ownership works here has had more than 34,000 views and close to 200 potential customers have registered their interest on the BNZ website.
“New Zealanders are interested in exploring different ways of getting into their first home and shared ownership is
another way we’re supporting them”, says BNZ’s Paul Carter.
“We’ll be getting back in touch with those who’re registered and together with Nigel’s team at YouOwn – we’re aiming to
get people into our Auckland pilot programme within a few weeks” says Mr Carter.
With his extensive experience in shared-ownership YouOwn’s Mr Spratt understands the benefits of starting small
“Shared-ownership is new to many New Zealanders, so we’ll be taking the time to make sure everyone understands how it
works. After we launch we’ll be looking to expand the Auckland pilot programme to other areas and other types of
properties beyond new-builds.”
ENDS.