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The new body, Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities – will be the Government’s lead developer for urban development. It will bring together three existing agencies; Housing NZ, its development subsidiary HLC and the KiwiBuild Unit.
“Homes and Communities will create a diverse mix of public, affordable and market housing,” said housing and urban development minister Phil Twyford. “It will also be a world class public housing landlord and will continue to offer the homeownership support currently provided by Housing NZ and HLC such as Home Start Grants and Welcome Home Loans.
“At the moment the government’s comprehensive house building programmes is spread across multiple agencies. This has led to duplication and the splitting of key roles, fragmented decision-making and limited coordination between agencies. Kāinga Ora is a new approach. It’s a one stop shop with a job description to build modern homes and vibrant communities.”
He added that it will have a strong social mandate, including being a fair and reasonable landlord and recognising the importance of environmental, cultural and heritage values in urban development.
Kāinga Ora will be established through two separate pieces of legislation. The initial bill will bring together the three agencies while a second bill later this year will give Homes & Communities its enabling development powers.
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