HOW FAMILY BENEFITS ARE USED TO FINANCE MAORI HOUSING For many families the desire to own their own home can now be realized through the Capitalisation of Family Benefit. This scheme places the opportunity of immediate home ownership before those families who were previously unable to find the balance of the cost of a house not covered by the loan limits of the Department of Maori Affairs and the State Advances Corporation. Some of the questions people ask about this new scheme are answered in the following statement prepared by the Department of Maori Affairs: Who May Apply? Any parent of a child between the age of one year and 16 years may apply providing the child is living with, and is being maintained by the parent. How Old Must the Child be before the Benefit may be Capitalized? The child must be at least one year old before the benefit can be capitalized. “When my first child is born, I should like to put the whole family benefit, from birth onwards, towards my house. How can I do that?” When you apply for Family Benefit following the birth of the child, you can instruct the Social Security Department to accumulate your benefit without interest. At the end of the year, you apply to have the benefit capitalized in the usual way. The accumulated lump sum of family benefit is then added to the amount available for housing. This is to be especially recommended when the child is the first one, but parents of larger families may also find it convenient. What is the Greatest Amount Available for each Child? This will depend on the age of the child when capitalization is applied for. Where the benefit is capitalized from the age of one year until the age of 16 years, the maximum amount in most cases will be £473 16s. What is the Greatest Amount Available to any one Family? An application may be made to capitalize a benefit in respect of any number of children in a family, but in no case can the capitalized benefit exceed a total of £1,000. What is the Minimum Amount Available? No advance may be made where the capitalized value of the benefit is less than £200. For What Purposes may the Benefit be Capitalized? The benefit may be capitalized for any of the following purposes provided the house will be used as a home for the family: (a) To acquire a section and erect a new house thereon. (b) To acquire a section with a new house already erected thereon that has not previously been occupied. (c) To erect a new house on a section already owned. (d) To meet the cost of alterations or additions to a house already owned, for the purpose of providing additional bedrooms or living