Timeline for loan-to-value ratio restrictions
This page provides a timeline of our actions and consultations relating to loan-to-value (LVR) restrictions from June 2013 to the present.
November 2021
From 1 November 2021, LVR restrictions for owner-occupiers were further tightened to a maximum of 10% of new lending at LVRs above 80%.
May 2021
From 1 May 2021, LVR restrictions for investors were further tightened to a maximum of 5% of new lending at LVRs above 60%.
March 2021
As of 1 March 2021, LVR restrictions were reinstated at the same level as before the onset of COVID-19—a maximum of 20% of new lending at LVRs above 80% for owner-occupiers and a maximum of 5% of new lending at LVRs above 70% for investors.
December 2020
From 8 December 2020 to 22 January 2021, we ran a public consultation on a proposal to reinstate LVR restrictions at the same level as before the onset of COVID-19.
April 2020
We removed LVR restrictions for 12 months effective 1 May to ensure they did not have an undue impact on borrowers or lenders as part of the mortgage deferral scheme implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
November 2018
We eased LVR restrictions at the start of 2019 after a short consultation with the banking industry. This resulted in minor revisions to the Banking Supervision Handbook effective 1 January 2019.
January 2018
We eased LVR restrictions at the start of 2018 after a short consultation with industry. This resulted in minor revisions to the Banking Supervision Handbook.
September 2016
We published a response to submissions on changes to the LVR restriction rules. The changes were reflected in minor revisions to the Banking Supervision Handbook. We also published a regulatory impact assessment.
July 2016
We published a consultation paper on further adjustments to the LVR policy.
August 2015
We finalised changes to the capital adequacy requirements for residential mortgage loans for investment properties. This included defining owner-occupied property for the purposes of new LVR restrictions.
We also published a response to submissions on changes to the LVR restriction rules and released a regulatory impact assessment as part of the response to submissions. The changes were reflected in an updated version of the Banking Supervision Handbook (BS19).
June 2015
We published a consultation paper on proposed changes to the LVR policy (amended 4 June), including tighter restrictions on Auckland investor lending.
March 2014
We released our response to submissions on the construction exemptions in BS19 in March 2014, and this was reflected in a revised Framework for restrictions on high-LVR residential mortgage lending (released November 2015) and we then finalised the exemption. We also consulted on some minor changes to BS2A/BS2B that required minor consequential changes to BS19. These were finalised in June 2014.
December 2013
We announced we would introduce an exemption for high-LVR construction lending. We published:
- questions and answers about the construction lending exemption
- a related consultation paper
- draft of Framework for restrictions on high-LVR residential mortgage lending.
October 2013
We released documents relating to the development and implementation of restrictions on high-LVR mortgage lending.
August 2013
We announced our intention to implement restrictions on high loan-to-value ratio (LVR) lending. From 1 October 2013, banks were required to restrict new residential mortgage lending at LVRs over 80% (a deposit of less than 20%) to no more than 10% of the dollar value of their total new residential mortgage lending. We also released a regulatory impact assessment of this policy.
We also published:
- a response to submissions
- a revised framework for restrictions on high-LVR residential mortgage lending
- a revised Statement of Principles.
June 2013
We released a technical consultation package relating to restrictions on LVR residential mortgage lending. This package included:
- a consultation paper
- proposed changes to the Banking Supervision Handbook and banks’ conditions of registration as set out in the draft framework for restrictions on high-LVR residential mortgage lending
- draft changes to the Statement of Principles.
Older LVR consultation documents
View older documents relating to LVR consultations (pre-2016)