It is increasingly common for parents to provide some form of assistance to help their children purchase their first home. Its unsurprising given that New Zealand has a high income to house price ratio. First home buyers are turning to the Bank of Mum and Dad to bridge the gap between what they can borrow from a bank and what they need for their first home.

There are a number of different legal structures that can be used to help parents assist their children who are first home buyers. Each has different considerations which need to be taken into account.