Kāinga Ora feels the pinch of reduced funding, reduced builds and steady complaints, writes Madeleine Chapman in today’s extract from The Bulletin.
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A net reduction in Kāinga Ora homes
Social housing in New Zealand is in a state of flux as Kāinga Ora halts building projects and councils ponder the feasibility of being landlords for the most vulnerable. On the eve of Matariki in June, Kāinga Ora quietly issued a media release to “a limited number” of journalists confirming that it would halt 212 housing developments (about 3,500 homes) and would be selling off approximately 40 hectares of land. The decision was combed through by Newsroom’s Jonathan Milne a week later (as covered by The Bulletin at the time).
The cancellations will result in a net loss of 177 Kāinga Ora homes, leaving the total at 78,027, 1News reported at the time. Bishop said at the time that the cancellations were designed to free up funds to build homes in places where they are most needed.
A shrinking agency
Earlier this month, The Post’s Henry Cooke reported on Mark Fraser’s abrupt departure from Kāinga Ora. Fraser was the lead on the agency’s massive building programme and resigned with immediate effect, but said it “has nothing to do with” the $560m reduction in government funding.
In April, the agency announced a large-scale restructure (RNZ) which would see up to 600 roles axed throughout the country, including in the tenant call centre and the team that places people in homes.
Wellington grapples with the cost of maintenance
On The Spinoff this morning, Wellington editor Joel MacManus lays out the trickiest problem for the capital city’s next mayor: “the complex, expensive quagmire of the council’s social housing”. Wellington City Council owns 1,900 social housing units and houses 3,000 low-income tenants. The challenge, as MacManus puts it, is in the rundown state of many council flats and the overwhelming cost to bring them up to Healthy Homes standard.
Like Kāinga Ora – though on a much smaller scale – the council has a current list of tenants who, were the council to shut down its housing arm or reduce its holdings, would be without homes. There is no separation between the success (or struggles) of social housing providers and New Zealand’s homelessness statistics.
Read more:
- Amelia Wade: How Kiwis are being turned away from emergency housing (SST, paywalled)
- Why homelessness is worse under this government: a story in 10 graphs
An oft-criticised landlord
Being a landlord for 190,000 tenants means you’re still a landlord with landlord complaints. Nary a week goes by where Kāinga Ora isn’t in the news because of a tenancy dispute. Whether it’s the relocating of tenants in order to sell state homes (September 15, NZHerald) or, on the flipside, failing to evict a tenant with 68 complaints against them (September 25, Stuff).
Also on The Spinoff this morning, Alex Casey speaks to a Christchurch man who’s taking Kāinga Ora to the tenancy tribunal over a bedroom dispute, specifically whether or not an objectively tiny room in his home qualifies as a second bedroom. Robert Kara cared for his mother for 13 years while sleeping in the lounge of her Kāinga Ora home. Two days after her funeral, Kara was informed he could not take over her lease as the 4.85m square “study” was actually a second bedroom, which he did not qualify for.
Elderly renters to double by 2048
The pithily named Aotearoa New Zealand National Forum for the Decade of Healthy Ageing/He Oranga Kaumātua, He Oranga Tangata has this morning called on local candidates to commit to protecting and expanding council housing for seniors. In 2024, the Highbury Triangle development opened in Avondale, a 236-home Kāinga Ora complex designed primarily for older tenants (55+).
“This is an opportunity,” said Selwyn Foundation CEO Denise Cosgrove of the potential for councils to invest in senior housing. “Healthier ageing reduces pressure on the health system, supports whānau stability, and keeps older New Zealanders contributing socially, culturally and economically.” The forum highlighted the growing waitlists, particularly for accessible housing.
In Alex Casey’s story this morning, Kāinga Ora defended its decision to evict Robert Kara, citing the home’s accessibility features and the waitlist for accessible homes. The latest figures from MSD show there are 2,178 people waiting on the housing register who require a modified property.
