National wants a "common sense change" to let young people under 30 draw on their KiwiSaver accounts to help pay for tenancy bond payments.
The party's proposal would mean people who have money saved in KiwiSaver accounts will be able to use that money to pay the bond for a rental agreement.
The money would be transferred from their KiwiSaver account to Tenancy Services and returned to the KiwiSaver account when the tenancy ends.
Housing spokesperson Chris Bishop made the announcement at Auckland University earlier today as semester two begins for tertiary students. He said National pledged to push through the law change for people under the age of 30 if it was elected in October.
"Getting together up to four weeks rent in advance for a tenancy agreement is not easy for many people, particularly for students and young graduates, who don't have a lot of cash," he said.
"This is a common sense change that will make it easier for people to pay for bonds, and free up cash for young people."
Bishop continued: "Using KiwiSaver savings for rent bonds will only be available for people aged under 30, and will only be available for five years' worth of bond payments.
"This reflects the fact that we want young people joining KiwiSaver early and staying in for the long haul.
"Young people have told me they'd like to have the option of using their KiwiSaver savings to sort their bond payments, and that this policy will make a difference.
"As is currently the case, tenants will also be able to transfer their bond to a new tenancy."
Party leader Christopher Luxon said the policy had come out of National's youth wing and would "help make it easier for young people to get into flats while studying and entering the workforce".
"The next National government will amend the KiwiSaver Act to implement this change and will put in place any operational changes required between Tenancy Services and KiwiSaver providers to make the back-end operation as easy as possible," Bishop said.
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