Housing Minister Phil Twyford has come under fire after admitting KiwiBuild is not for low-income families.
His comments came after it was revealed some of the buyers of the first completed homes were professionals, including a newly graduating doctor and marketing manager.
But it's angered those who believe the scheme should be targeted towards low-income and homeless families.
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"KiwiBuild is aimed at those families who years ago would have expected to own their own home, but have been locked out of the market because of the national housing crisis," Mr Twyford says, according to Stuff.
"It is not a programme aimed at low-income families, because they may not be able to service a KiwiBuild mortgage."
To qualify for a KiwiBuild, buyers must fall below the earning cap of $180,000 as a couple, or $120,000 as a single person.
But the release of the new owners' details has drawn outrage on social media.
"The first Kiwibuild owners are a soon-to-graduate doctor and a Marketing Manager? In 6 months time they won't be under that $180k cap. This wasn't who I thought Kiwibuild was going to be for," one person posted.
"Surely the intention of Kiwibuild is to help low income Kiwis into housing, not doctors and marketing managers. Very poor choice of poster children," another said.
And the scheme has come under fire from Protest group Auckland Action Against Poverty, which says KiwiBuild will "further exacerbate the housing crisis".
"KiwiBuild homes are out of reach for the working poor and the unemployed, who are the ones facing the real brunt of the housing crisis. With a price-tag of half a million dollars, KiwiBuild homes are a future speculator's dream", says coordinator Ricardo Menendez March.
"In a few years time we'll have state led gentrification, with middle and high income earners being able to access some of the KiwiBuild homes while those at the bottom continue to struggle with fast rising rents and lack of social housing."
Newshub.
