This Act may be cited as the Family Benefits (Home Ownership) Act 1964.

In this Act unless the context otherwise requires,—

Where a family benefit is payable in respect of 2 or more children, then, for the purposes of this Act, a separate benefit shall be deemed to be payable in respect of each child.

Subject to the provisions of section 7, the following purposes are hereby declared to be housing purposes for the purpose of this Act, namely:

This Act shall be administered in the department by the chief executive, and the chief executive shall administer this Act and shall exercise all the powers conferred on him or her by this Act under the general direction and control of the Minister.

In the exercise of its powers, functions, and discretions under this Act the chief executive shall comply with any general or special directions given to him or her in writing by the Minister.

A direction under this section is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

With the written consent of the Minister, the chief executive may from time to time, either generally or particularly, delegate to any Registrar or other officer of the department such of his of her powers under this Act or under any regulations under this Act as the chief executive determines.

Subject to the provisions of this section and to any general or special directions given or conditions attached by the chief executive, the officer to whom any powers are delegated under this section may exercise those powers in the same manner and with the same effect as if they had been conferred on him directly by this section and not by delegation.

Every person purporting to act pursuant to any delegation under this section shall be presumed to be acting in accordance with the terms of the delegation in the absence of proof to the contrary.

Any delegation under this section may be made to a specified officer or to officers of a specified class, or may be made to the holder or holders for the time being of a specified office or class of offices.

Any delegation under this section may be at any time revoked by the chief executive, in whole or in part, and no such delegation shall prevent the exercise of any power by the chief executive.

Any applicant or beneficiary affected by any decision made by any officer in the exercise of any powers conferred on him by delegation under this section may, within 3 months after the communication of the decision to him, appeal therefrom to the chief executive.

The chief executive shall review every decision appealed from as aforesaid, and may at any time, of his or her own motion, review any other decision made by any officer in the exercise of any powers conferred on him by delegation under this section, and in any such case the chief executive may confirm, vary, or revoke the decision.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, and notwithstanding anything in the Social Security Act 1964, on the application of a beneficiary who pursuant to section 10 of this Act is eligible to receive such an advance, the chief executive may, in his or her discretion, authorise the making of an advance for any housing purpose to the beneficiary of an amount not exceeding the capitalised value of the family benefit or benefits payable to the beneficiary:

provided that—

Notwithstanding anything in section 6 or in any other provision of this Act, no advance under section 6 shall be made to any applicant who has been granted an advance by Housing New Zealand Corporation or Kāinga Ora–Homes and Communities as a Homestart loan and designated as such by the Corporation or Kāinga Ora–Homes and Communities.

Notwithstanding anything in section 10 or in any other provision of this Act, no certificate of eligibility shall be issued under section 10, and no renewal of any such certificate of eligibility shall be made, in respect of any application received by the chief executive, on or after 1 October 1986.

No advance may be made, unless—

The chief executive may refuse to make an advance in respect of any land which is or will be used for or in association with any business, profession, or undertaking.

Every application for an advance shall be made by the beneficiary on a form provided for the purpose by the chief executive, and shall be lodged in an office of the department.

Every beneficiary applying for an advance shall supply in writing such information in support of his application as the chief executive requires, and shall declare that the contents of his application are true and correct in every material point.

Where the beneficiary is married, the chief executive may require the application to be made jointly by the beneficiary and the spouse of the beneficiary.

It shall be the duty of every person to make true answers to all questions put to him by any member of the Commission or by a Registrar of the department or by any authorised officer or agent of the department or of Kāinga Ora–Homes and Communities or of Te Puni Kōkiri in respect of any application for an advance or other matter arising under this Act or any regulations under this Act, and without requiring the payment of any fee, to furnish in writing such certificates and information as may be required for the purposes of this Act or of any such regulations.

Any declaration required to be made for the purpose of this Act may be made before—

Where the chief executive is satisfied that the applicant is eligible to receive an advance and that the purpose for which the advance is applied for is a housing purpose, the chief executive may issue to the applicant a certificate of eligibility in a form provided for the purpose by the chief executive, stating that the applicant is eligible for an advance and specifying the housing purpose for which an advance may be made, the capitalised value of the family benefit or benefits in respect of which an advance may be made, and the date at which the capitalised value of the benefit or benefits has been ascertained:

provided that a certificate of eligibility shall not be issued to the applicant, unless—

For the purposes of this section a beneficiary shall be deemed to have resided in New Zealand during any period (whether before or after the commencement of this Act) during which, pursuant to section 79 of the Social Security Act 1964, he is deemed for the purposes of the Social Security Act 1964 to have been resident in New Zealand.

Every certificate of eligibility shall continue in force for a period of 12 months, but may from time to time, on the application of the beneficiary, be renewed for further periods of 12 months:

provided that the chief executive may cancel any certificate of eligibility at any time where the chief executive is satisfied that the beneficiary is no longer eligible for an advance or the beneficiary requests that the certificate of eligibility be cancelled.

The provisions of subsections (1) to (3) shall apply with respect to every application for the renewal of a certificate of eligibility as if it were an application for such a certificate:

provided that the chief executive may renew any such certificate on such terms and conditions as the chief executive determines.

The decision of the chief executive as to whether or not an applicant is eligible for an advance or is no longer eligible for an advance shall be final.

Where a certificate of eligibility is issued to a beneficiary, and so long as it continues in force, the family benefit or benefits shall be withheld from the beneficiary on and from the date specified in the certificate as the date as at which the capitalised value of the benefit or benefits has been ascertained.

Subject to the limits specified in section 6, an advance for any housing purpose may be made to any eligible beneficiary, upon such terms and subject to such conditions as the chief executive determines.

The capitalised value of a family benefit for the purposes of an advance shall be calculated in accordance with—

having regard to the number of pay periods that will occur from the date on which the benefit ceases to be payable to the beneficiary by reason of the advance until the end of the period for which the benefit is to be applied in repayment. If for any reason the family benefit is payable at a reduced rate, the capitalised value shall be calculated on the basis of the reduced rate.

An advance may be made of the capitalised value of a family benefit payable in respect of any child for a period expiring at the end of the pay period in which the child attains the age of 16 years or for any shorter period.

The amount of an advance shall be a charge upon the land in respect of which it is made, and the charge may be registered against the land in the manner prescribed by section 14.

Every charge created under this section shall be taken—

Notwithstanding anything in any other Act, where the amount of any advance is applied in discharging or partially discharging any registered encumbrance existing on the land, the charge created by this section shall, when registered under the Land Transfer Act 1952 or other appropriate Act, have priority over all registered encumbrances over which the encumbrances so discharged or partially discharged had priority, subject to the registration before the registration of the charge of a discharge or partial discharge, as the case may be, of the encumbrances so wholly or partially discharged.

Where an advance is applied in payment or partial payment of purchase money owing under a registered agreement for sale and purchase of land or under a registered lease or licence under which the beneficiary or the beneficiary and the spouse of the beneficiary are purchasing the fee simple of the land, the charge securing the repayment of the advance shall charge the interest of the beneficiary or, as the case may be, of the beneficiary and the spouse of the beneficiary in the agreement or lease or licence (or the fee simple, if the advance is applied in payment in full of the purchase money), and shall rank immediately before all other encumbrances registered against the agreement or lease or licence or, where the advance is applied in payment in full of the purchase money, immediately before all encumbrances to which the agreement or lease or licence was subject immediately before the acquisition of the fee simple by the beneficiary or by the beneficiary and the spouse of the beneficiary:

provided that the charge holder may agree to accept a lower ranking in order of priority.

For the purposes of section 461 of the Maori Affairs Act 1953, a charge under this Act shall be deemed to be a mortgage.

The Property Law Act 2007 applies to every such charge—

In particular, and without limiting the generality of subsection (7), there is implied in the charge,—

Every such charge in favour of Her Majesty the Queen may be enforced, sued upon, varied, or released on behalf of Her Majesty by any person for the time being authorised by the Board of Maori Affairs under section 30 of the Maori Housing Amendment Act 1938 or section 10 of the Maori Affairs Act 1953 to take proceedings or execute documents for the purposes of the Maori Housing Act 1935.

Nothing in section 11 of the Maori Housing Amendment Act 1938 shall apply with respect to any charge created by this section.

Registration of a charge created by section 13 may be effected by depositing in duplicate with the District Land Registrar or other appropriate registering authority an instrument in form 1 of Schedule 2 duly executed by the registered proprietor or other owner of the land and witnessed.

Subject to the provisions of subsection (3) of section 13, the order of priority in which the charge shall rank in relation to any existing encumbrances shall be specified in the charge.

Where any advance is repaid or deemed to have been repaid, the charge holder shall execute in form 2 of Schedule 2 a release of the charge, which shall, upon presentation, be registered by the District Land Registrar or other appropriate registering authority. Where a charge is to be partially released, such modifications shall be made in the said form 2 as may be necessary.

Where the advance was made against the capitalised value of the family benefits payable in respect of 2 or more children, a partial release of the charge may be executed and registered when so much of the advance as was made in respect of the benefit payable in respect of any one such child has been repaid or is deemed to have been repaid.

Subject to subsection (2) and to sections 18 and 19, where an advance was made to a beneficiary under this Act, that advance shall continue to be repayable until the child in respect of whom family benefit was payable attains the age in respect of which the capitalised value of the benefit was calculated for the purposes of the advance. On attainment of that age by the child the advance, to the extent to which it was made in respect of that benefit, shall be deemed to have been repaid.

Where the child in respect of whom a family benefit is payable dies after the expiration of 1 year from the date of the advance and before attaining the age in respect of which the capitalised value of the benefit was calculated for the purpose of the advance and before any event has occurred by reason of which the unpaid balance of the advance or any part thereof has become repayable, any advance, to the extent that it was made in respect of that benefit, shall be deemed to have been repaid on the death of the child.

Where an advance is made in respect of a family benefit, and—

the advance, to the extent to which it was made in respect of the family benefit payable in respect of that child, shall, if the chief executive so determines, be deemed to have been repaid on the date of the commencement of that orphan’s benefit or an unsupported child’s benefit.

Notwithstanding anything in section 15, where the child in respect of whom an advance has been made dies after the expiration of 1 year from the date of the advance and before attaining the age in respect of which the capitalised value of the benefit was calculated for the purpose of the advance, and the death of the child is caused by an offence of which a parent of the child is convicted, being an offence which is culpable homicide within the meaning of the Crimes Act 1961, the chief executive may apply to a District Court Judge for an order declaring that the unpaid balance of the advance at the date of death of the child became repayable on that date.

On any application under subsection (1), the District Court Judge shall, having regard to the conduct of the parents of the child and to all the circumstances of the case,—

Where the District Court Judge makes an order under paragraph (a) of subsection (2), interest at the rate prescribed by subsection (1) of section 21 shall be payable on the unpaid balance of the advance from the date of death of the child.

Subject to the provisions of section 18, the unpaid balance of an advance shall be repayable upon demand signed by the charge holder or by the person entitled to enforce the charge under section 13 or by any agent or servant or clerk of the charge holder or of that person, served upon the beneficiary and where necessary the spouse of the beneficiary, either personally or by posting the notice in a duly registered letter addressed to him at his usual or last known place of abode in New Zealand.

Without limiting the circumstances in which such a demand may be made, demand may, if the chief executive so determines, be made—

The fact that any such demand is made by the charge holder or by the person entitled to enforce the charge under section 13 or by any agent or servant or clerk of the charge holder or of that person shall be sufficient evidence of the authority of the charge holder or of that person, agent, servant, or clerk to make the demand.

Where the child in respect of whom a family benefit was payable dies within 1 year after the date of an advance in respect of that benefit, the unpaid balance of the advance, unless it is sooner repaid by the beneficiary, shall remain charged against the land until the repayment is required by the charge holder.

For the purposes of this Act, the date of an advance shall be deemed to be the date on which the family benefit in respect of which the advance was made ceases to be payable to the beneficiary by reason of the advance.

For the purposes of this Act, the amount of the unpaid balance of an advance shall be calculated in accordance with—

and shall be an amount equal to the capitalised value of the benefit in respect of which it was made for the number of pay periods of the advance less the number of pay periods that have elapsed since the date of the advance, calculated, as if for an advance in the first instance, from the end of the pay period during which the event occurred which results in the advance becoming repayable.

Where an order is made under paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 18 declaring that the unpaid balance of an advance became repayable on the death of the child, the unpaid balance of the advance shall bear interest from that date at the rate of 5 pounds per cent per annum.

In all other cases the chief executive, in his or her discretion, may determine the rate of interest (if any) payable on the unpaid balance of the advance, but in no case shall that rate be higher than 5 pounds per cent per annum.

The unpaid balance of an advance that has become repayable pursuant to this Act and any interest thereon may be recovered as a debt due to the Crown at the suit of the chief executive, or the chief executive, or the Commission may make any necessary adjustments in any instalments of the benefit or any other benefit under the Social Security Act 2018 payable or thereafter becoming payable to the beneficiary or to the spouse of the beneficiary.

Every advance shall be made, out of a Crown Bank Account, from money appropriated by Parliament for the purpose.

No fee shall be payable under any Act in respect of registration of any document required for the purpose of registering or releasing (whether wholly or in part) any charge created under section 13.

Every person commits an offence against this Act who—

Any person who commits an offence against paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of subsection (1) is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to a fine not exceeding 100 pounds.

Every person who commits an offence against paragraph (c) of subsection (1) is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 50 pounds.

The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, make regulations providing for such matters as are necessary for giving full effect to the provisions of this Act and for the due administration thereof.

Regulations under this section are secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

The following enactments are hereby repealed:

The following regulations are hereby revoked: