Who Can Buy Hawaiian Home Lands Properties?

Locations has specialists to help native Hawaiians lease or purchase Hawaiian Home Land properties. Locations real estate agents have expertise in educating Hawaiian buyers on the process to secure and purchase Hawaiian Home Lands.

Here are the answers to common questions about Hawaiian Home Lands. While the upmost care was taken to accurately answer these questions, all information should be verified through the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, as policies do change.

What is the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act?

Shortly after the turn of the last century, Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole spearheaded the passage of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act in response to the dwindling native Hawaiian population. Prince Kuhio convinced Congress to create a rehabilitation program for Hawaiians, and on July 9, 1921, President Warren Harding signed into law the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act. The United States set aside approximately 200,000 acres of Hawaiian land for the rehabilitation of the native Hawaiian people through a government-sponsored homesteading program. Native Hawaiians are defined as individuals having at least 50 percent Hawaiian blood.

Today we have the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, and it gives native Hawaiians benefits to assist them and their ‘ohana. The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has a number of goals and objectives relating to their management of the Hawaiian Home Lands trust and in carrying out their mission statement “to develop and deliver lands to native Hawaiians…towards developing self-sufficient and healthy communities.”

How much land is designated as Hawaiian home lands on the islands?

On each of the Hawaiian Islands, there is a different amount of land designated as Hawaiian Home Land under the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, with the most found on the Big Island, or Hawaii Island.

As of June 30, 2012, the following is the amount of Hawaiian home lands acreage found by island, which have a variety of land use designations in addition to being residential:

Where will new residential Hawaiian homesteads be located on Oahu?

Prior to July 2014, residential homesteads on Oahu were about 1,030 acres. Over the 20-year period of the Oahu Island Plan, it is expected there will be 3,370 new homes on 605 acres in Waianae, Nanakuli, Kapolei, and Papakolea. 1,190 Hawaiian homesteads are proposed for Kapolei, and these are identified as a priority in the plan.

Am I Eligible for a Hawaiian Home Lands Property?

According to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, in order to be eligible for a Hawaiian Home Lands lease you must be 18 years old and be a native Hawaiian, defined as “any descendant of not less than one-half part of the blood of the races inhabiting the Hawaiian Islands previous to 1778.” This means, you must have a blood quantum of at least 50 percent Hawaiian. This requirement remains unchanged since the HHCA’s passage in 1921.

The only way a person who is 25 percent Hawaiian can acquire a Hawaiian Home Lands property, is by having a sibling or spouse who is 25 percent or more Hawaiian, or a parent or grandparent who is 50 percent or more Hawaiian, transfer the property to them. 

If you are 25 percent Hawaiian but have a living parent or grandparent who is 50 percent or more Hawaiian, they can acquire the property and simultaneously transfer it to you, another adult child, or an adult grandchild. In that scenario the individual who is 50 percent Hawaiian wouldn’t need to qualify for the loan or even be on the loan, just the person who is the end recipient of the transfer.

What are the benefits of a Hawaiian Home Lands Homestead Lease?

Acquiring a homestead lease has a number of economical benefits, including the following:

• Annual lease rent of $1.00 per year
• 99-year lease
• Lease term which can be extended for an additional 100 years, allowing you to pass your homestead from generation to generation
• Seven-year exemption from real property tax; must be on a new development and applies only to the first seven years of the 99-year lease regardless of ownership transfer
• Complete exemption of tax on land
• Minimal real property tax after the first seven years (applies only to County of Kauai and City and County of Honolulu, Oahu)
• Taxing of assessed value of improvements on property (Hawaii and Maui counties only)
• Homeowner’s exemption (to be filed with respective county’s real property tax office)
• Low interest government loans (contact DHHL for more information); and
• Ability to use the equity in your property to obtain loans.

Which type of Hawaiian home land is right for me?

Upon approval for a homestead from the Department of Home Lands, you’ll need to decide which type of homestead lease you want. Some islands have residential, agricultural and pastoral land use designations. On Oahu, we only have subsistence agricultural and residential Hawaiian home lands.

Agricultural land on Kauai

What do residential homestead typically awards include on Oahu?

• Fully improved lots with new homes
• Fully improved vacant lots with potable water, utilities, and paved road access
• Vacant lots of 1 acre or less with minimal improvements.
• With a residential lease, there are only single-family homes available, no townhouses or condos. 

What do subsistence agriculture awards typically include Oahu?

• 5 acres or less lot, with a minimum of 10,000 square feet
• Close proximity to existing infrastructure
• “Lifestyle areas” intended to allow for home consumption of agricultural products
• Water system, that may be catchment, potable or surface
• Unpaved roach access

What are the other designations of Hawaiian home lands?

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands also has designated other lands for non-homesteading uses:

• “General Agriculture” for farming or ranching
• “Special District” for areas that require special attention, such as natural hazard areas, open spaces, cultural resources, land far from infrastructure, greenways, and mixed-use areas
• “Community Use” for public facilities, such as parks, cultural activities, community based economic development, utilities, and more
• “Conservation” for environmentally sensitive areas, such as lands with watersheds, endangered species, historic and cultural sites, and critical habitats
• “Commercial” for retail, business, and other commercial activities
• “Industrial” for processing, construction, manufacturing, transportation, wholesale, warehousing, and other like activities

What is the plan for Hawaiian home lands on Oahu?

Developed in July 2014, after a number of community meetings, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has a comprehensive O‘ahu Island Plan that ends in 2034. The plan’s goal is to award 170 homestead awards per year – to total 3,400 Hawaiian homestead awards over the 20-year period. As of the writing of the plan, there were 12,956 applicants for Hawaiian home lands on Oahu, meaning about 25 percent of these applicants would be granted land by 2034.

What are the Hawaiian homelands for sale now?

All Hawaiian home lands for sale are offered through the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and can be viewed under lot offerings on their website. 

Currently, there is an exciting offering available in Ewa Beach on Oahu: 37 residential homes in the Ka‘uluokaha‘i Subdivision. This is the second offering of Hawaiian home lands residential homes in this subdivision, which located near Kapolei and the new Honolulu Rail Transit Authority.

The homes are being offered in partnership with the developer, Gentry Kapolei Development, LLC. There are five beautiful turnkey models to choose from:

• ‘A‘a: two-bedroom, one-bathroom; 775 square feet; $246,000
• Kelewa‘a: two-bedroom, two-bathroom; 1,008 square feet; $302,000
• Kaulua: three-bedroom, two-bathroom; 1,233 square feet; $336,000
• Lena: four-bedroom, three-bathroom; 1,655 square feet; $367,000
• Kau‘opae: five-bedroom, three-bathroom; 1,707 square feet; $384,000

To qualify to purchase one of the 37 available homes in Ka‘uluokaha‘i, you must meet a few requirements:

1. Applicants must already be on the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands waitlist, and their application date must be before December 31, 1992.
2. Applicants must plan to live in the home, and therefore must be employed on the island of Oahu, unless they are retired.
3. A prequalification letter must be submitted by November 12, 2020 from an authorized lender for Hawaiian home lands properties.
4. The applicant must submit the Response Form by November 12, 2020.
5. If the applicant is prequalified, they will be invited to a lot selection meeting on December 5, 2020 to choose one of the exciting properties.

If you have Hawaiian ancestry and are interested in purchasing a Hawaiian Homestead home, please contact a Locations agent today or visit the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands for more information.