Housing investment plan information briefing (December 2025)

On screen:

A slide with a white background is on screen. At the top is the Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga – Ministry of Housing and Urban Development logo and the New Zealand Government logo. Below is black text that reads ‘Housing investment plan: allocation of flexible fund information session’. Beneath is a repeating pattern of the Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga values which includes diagonal lines of chevrons, swirls and interlocking lines. 

The next slide appears, and it has a dark blue background with a photograph of a man and a child on a bike to the right. White overlaid text reads ‘Housing investment plan: allocation of flexible fund information briefing December 2025’. In a vertical line on the righthand side of the screen are four circles each filled with a photograph and a name underneath. We see Erana Sitterle live, with short blonde hair, glasses and a white top and behind her is a blue background with a yellow, red and blue zigzag pattern. Beneath is a photo of Jaeyon Choi who has long brown hair and is wearing a grey, long sleeve top. Next is Siarn Stowers-Nigro who has long brown hair and is wearing a patterned blouse with a black blazer over top. At the bottom is a circle with the initials SB in it and the name Stacey Beer beneath. 

Audio (Erana Sitterle):

Kia ora koutou. My name is Erana Sitterle, manager of the portfolio investment team at the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. Thank you for watching this information briefing, which provides an overview of the housing investment plan allocation of the flexible fund. The government is changing how it invests in housing to focus support where it's needed most – helping New Zealanders in greatest housing need into warm and dry homes.

On 21 November 2025, the Minister of Housing, the Honourable Chris Bishop, announced the Budget 2025 new housing investment plan. The plan is backed by the new flexible fund and guided by a single investment objective: to enable people in high housing need to access stable and secure housing.

We've used local insights and data to pinpoint where housing need is greatest, focusing investment in five target locations and four main centres. This plan comes ahead of us seeking applications for funding in February 2026 to deliver between 675 and 770 social homes and affordable rentals that will be ready for tenanting from July 2027 to late 2029.

The team will take you through a presentation to provide an overview of the plan. This information briefing provides an additional communication mode of delivering the information in the plan. If you have questions at the end of the information briefing, please e-mail them to investment@hud.govt.nz and a team member will assist you.

I'll now hand over to Siarn, who will take you through an overview of the investment plan. Stacey will then speak specifically about the housing interventions we will be funding and the contracting models available. Jae will then talk about the application process, timeframes and how and when you can find out more information.

On screen: 

The screen changes to a slide with a white background. Siarn Stowers-Nigro is now in the top righthand corner. Blue text on the slide reads ‘Housing investment plan’. Below are four icons with text underneath each. The first is an outline of a bank and the text reads ‘Sets out Budget 2025 purchasing intentions’. The second is a stack of coins – the text reads ‘Available funding and funding models’. The third icon is a piece of paper and the text below reads ‘Application process, assessment criteria and key timeframes’. The fourth icon is a triangular set square and the text below reads ‘Key performance indicators we’ll use to measure the effectiveness of investment.’

Audio (Siarn Stowers-Nigro):

Kia ora koutou, my name is Siarn Stowers-Nigro and I'm from the portfolio investment team. The housing investment plan outlines HUD's new approach to investment. A key feature of the new housing investment system is improved understanding of where housing investment is needed most.

The approach in this investment plan is tailored to the investment of social housing and affordable rentals and supports data-informed investment decisions, including how to prioritise people in place, understand impact, identify interventions and work with the right partners.

The plan approves Budget 2025 allocation approach, which strikes a balance between the target locations where prevalence of need is the highest and our main centres, which have the largest numbers of households needing housing support.

For detailed information on the method and the process HUD used to identify these locations, please refer to the investment plan.

The plan also sets out the Budget 2025 investment intentions, the funding models available, which outlines how providers will be paid, an overview of the application process, assessment criteria and key timeframes. And the key performance indicators we'll use to measure the effectiveness of the investment.

To continue to improve our investment approach, HUD will increasingly work with partners and stakeholders in local communities, including Māori iwi, housing providers and councils to better understand the nature of housing need and the unique conditions in locations.

This will deepen our knowledge about specific groups’ needs so that we can continually improve our understanding of the level and the type of investment that is needed.

We also continue to work across locations, including where there's no new investment proposed, to support existing planned housing delivery and enable and facilitate local housing initiatives. This work will also help to inform future investment decisions.

On screen:

The next slide reads ‘Purchasing intentions – through Budget 2025, the flexible fund enables the delivery of between 675 and 770 homes.’ There is a table below which outlines how the flexible fund will be used to deliver homes in areas with the highest housing need. The focus is on supporting specific groups, including Māori families, sole parent households with children, older people, disabled households and Pacific peoples in South Auckland. 

Funding is prioritised for several regions: Far North: 120–130 homes, South Auckland: 170–190 homes, Eastern Bay of Plenty: 110–120 homes, Gisborne – Tairāwhiti: 100–110 homes, Hastings: 15–20 homes. Main centres: Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch (each 40–50 homes).

Home types: Most homes will be small, with some larger family homes included, especially in the target locations. In the main centres, the majority will be small homes.

Delivery modes: New builds are the main approach, with some homes in South Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch also available through purchase or lease from the market.

Bedroom preferences: The preferred number of bedrooms varies, but the emphasis is on providing homes that suit the needs of the target populations, including accessibility and family size.

Audio (Siarn Stowers-Nigro):

The purchasing intentions set out what HUD will purchase with the funding available. Budget 2025 enables the delivery of between 675 and 770 social homes and affordable rentals.

The final number of homes funded will be based on the applications we receive. Due to the type of need identified, we expect a higher proportion of social housing to be funded.

Additional homes may be able to be funded if there is remaining funding at the end of stage one of our application process.

Funding is targeted to locations with the highest housing need and is intended to support our populations of interest. These population groups were highly represented in the national data and local insights used to determine the investment locations.

These groups are whānau Māori, sole parent households with dependent children, older people – kuia and kaumātua, disabled households and, specifically in South Auckland, Pacific peoples.

Our target locations that investment is directed towards are the Far North, South Auckland, Eastern Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hastings. And our main centres are Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch. Auckland is a main centre. However, it has been included as the target location in this investment plan given the high housing need identified in South Auckland.

We've also provided a range of houses we will fund in each location, a preference of the number of bedrooms and confirmed the locations we are open to either purchasing or leasing existing housing from the market.

Again, the investment plan provides further detail on how we have determined these purchasing intentions, including how we estimated the number of homes to invest in, in each location.

On screen:

The next slide is headed ‘Funding objectives’. There are three icons with text below them. The first is a simple bar chart with the bars descending in height and an arrow pointing downward. Beneath is the text ‘Reduce the long-term cost of housing to government’. The second icon is a tower of stick figure people. The text below reads ‘Maximise the number of people able to be housed’. The third icon is a road with houses along each side. The text below reads ‘Align with local housing needs and plans’. 

Audio (Siarn Stowers-Nigro):

The investment plan outlines HUD's funding objectives. These are to reduce the long-term cost of housing to government, meaning we want to support the delivery of modest housing that is competitively priced.

This includes the upfront cost of development or purchasing price, the ongoing costs of delivery and the financing cost.

We want to maximise the number of households able to be housed. This means we want the government investment in housing to fund more homes than previously. We'll be working hard with our delivery partners to improve project and funding costs.

And finally, we want the projects we fund to align with local housing needs and plans.

HUD, through our application process, will be seeking to partner with providers that are strategically aligned with our funding objectives. It is important that providers demonstrate their alignment with our funding objectives in their applications, as these objectives will be a key part of HUD's assessment criteria that applications will be evaluated against.

On screen:

The text slide is headed ‘Delivery approach’. There are two sub-headings ‘Delivery partners’ and ‘Funded programmes’. The bullets under ‘Delivery partners’ read ‘Strong track record, capability and capacity, sound commercial structure and can obtain finance and contribute equity’. The bullets under ‘Funded programmes’ read ‘aligned with purchasing intentions, achieves positive outcomes, competitively priced and tenanted between July 2027 and late 2029’.

Audio (Siarn Stowers-Nigro):

The plan also sets out HUD's delivery approach. We’ll be seeking to partner with providers that can evidence their strong track record and capability and capacity in delivering social housing and affordable rentals. They'll have a sound commercial structure and able to obtain the necessary finance and contribute a level of their own equity to the project.

We're looking for providers to apply for funding for projects that align with our purchasing intentions, will achieve positive outcomes not only for the people who will be housed, but also for the wider community, including local economic benefits, are competitively priced and can be tenanted between July 2027 to late 2029.

I'll now hand over to Stacey, who will provide an overview of the social housing and affordable rentals, and then talk through the funding model changes we're making.

On screen:

Stacey Beer appears in the top right-hand corner of the screen. She has brown shoulder length hair, a patterned top and is wearing clear rimmed eyeglasses. The slide on screen is headed ‘social housing and affordable rental overview’. Beneath are two lists, one is headed ‘social housing’. Beneath is a list which reads ‘objective, eligible providers, eligible households, contract term, rent paid by tenant, management of tenancies’. The second list is headed ‘affordable rentals’. The bullet points beneath read ‘Objective, eligible providers, eligible households, contract term, rent paid by tenant and management of tenancies’.

Audio (Stacey Beer):

Thanks, Siarn. Kia ora koutou. My name is Stacey Beer and I'm also in the portfolio investment team with Erana, Siarn and Jae.

I will first talk about social housing. For social housing, providers will develop or purchase houses or lease them from the market. They will place eligible households into the homes and provide ongoing tenancy management.

The objective of social housing is to support households that are in the highest housing need who can't access or sustain a tenancy in the private rental market for a range of reasons. To be eligible to deliver social housing, a provider must be a registered community housing provider.

Eligible households will have been assessed as eligible for social housing and are on the Ministry of Social Development-administered Housing Register. The tenant will pay the provider directly their income-related rent, which is calculated by the Ministry of Social Development based on the tenant's income and household circumstances.

This is currently set at 25 percent of the household’s income. All tenancies must conform to legislated requirements. Government oversight of social housing tenancies is through a combination of contractual requirements and regulatory oversight of registered community housing providers by the Community Housing Regulatory Authority.

Contract terms can range up to 25 years.

I will provide further details shortly on how the government funding for both social housing and affordable rentals work, but I will now move on to affordable rentals.

It is very important to note that affordable rentals in this housing investment plan are different from those procured in previous budgets. The affordable rentals in our housing system has changed to support a much more targeted population group that is experiencing housing need. The level of tenant rent and the way government funds them has also changed. It is very important that providers take note of the changes before considering whether or not to apply for funding.

Like social housing, providers of affordable rentals will develop, purchase or lease from the market, houses for the provision of affordable rentals. They will place eligible households into the homes and provide ongoing tenancy management.

The objective of affordable rentals is to provide a complementary and flexible housing solution within the housing system to enable delivery from a range of providers, support mixed tenure delivery and to provide a lower cost alternative for households unable to access market housing but not requiring social housing.

Providers eligible to deliver affordable rentals are community housing providers, Māori providers and other organisations who provide housing. Local councils will not be eligible to apply to provide affordable rentals as delivery partners, but they may be involved in partnerships for specific projects.

Eligible households are households who are unable to access private rentals due to barriers or household circumstances beyond affordability and have high housing need that is unlikely to be prioritised social housing, have previously accessed a housing support such as social housing, transitional housing or emergency housing, and are currently transitioning from such support. Tenants will pay between 50 to 70 percent of median market rent for the same sized home based on the number of bedrooms in that area.

Providers will need to provide evidence of a plan to manage tenancies to ensure households meet eligibility criteria.

Like social housing, contract terms can range up to 25 years.

On screen:

This slide is headed ‘Previous social housing funding model’. Below the heading is a simple diagram showing how money flows in the old funding model for social housing.

There are two yellow boxes stacked on top of each other, separated by a plus symbol. The boxes and plus symbol are surrounded by a black border. The top box reads ‘Market rent (increases with market rent inflation)’. The bottom box reads 'Operating supplement (increases with market rent inflation)’. On the right of the yellow boxes is an equals sign followed by two stacked green boxes with a plus symbol between and surrounded by a black border. The top green box reads ‘Rent paid by tenant (income-related rent)’ and the bottom box reads ‘Subsidy paid by the Ministry (income-related rent subsidy)’. There is another equals symbol then a large blue box with white text that reads ‘Revenue received by provider’.

Audio (Stacey Beer):

The previous slide addressed the different housing solutions. I will now talk about the funding model for these housing solutions.

As some of you will know, social housing is currently funded using a subsidy-based funding model that was previously expressed as market rent plus an operating supplement. The operating supplement was set at a percentage of market rent. Payments were made to providers fortnightly for the term of the contract starting at the initial tenanting date.

In previous budgets, funding for affordable rentals has largely been grant-based, meaning that payments were made upfront to support the cost of development or purchase. In most cases, there was no ongoing subsidy payments under this model.

HUD has now updated our funding models to support the achievement of our funding objectives. This is a key to how we fund both social housing and affordable rentals that providers should familiarise themselves with before considering applying for funding.

There are two new funding models which continue to deploy a subsidy-based funding model to both social housing and affordable rentals. However, the parameters have changed.

To be clear, there is no change to how income-related rent is calculated or charged to social housing tenants. The changes only affect how government funding is calculated and detailed in contracts with providers.

On screen:

This slide is headed ‘New funding model: cost-based funding’. Below the heading is a simple diagram showing how the new funding model works.

The diagram looks the same as the previous one. There are two yellow boxes stacked on top of each other, separated by a plus symbol. The boxes and plus symbol are surrounded by a black border. On the right of the yellow boxes is an equals sign followed by two stacked green boxes with a plus symbol between and surrounded by a black border. There is another equal symbol then a large blue box. The top yellow box reads ‘Fixed payment (varies with interest rates)’, the bottom yellow box reads ‘Indexed payment (increases with cost index inflation)’. The top green box reads ‘Rent paid by tenant (income-related rent or affordable rent)’ and the bottom green box reads ‘Subsidy paid by the Ministry (income-related rent subsidy or affordable rent subsidy)’. The blue box reads 'Revenue received by provider’.

Audio (Stacey Beer):

The new funding model that we expect will be used for most projects is the new cost-based funding model. This model removes market rent plus operating supplement as a basis for the revenue received by the provider and it replaces it with a fixed payment and an indexed payment.

This represents an intentional shift for our contracts to better match the actual costs incurred in ongoing delivery of housing.

The fixed payment will be set to cover the cost of the servicing and, when needed, the repayment of the capital used for the development initial purchase price or lease cost of the house. This payment will not increase with inflation but will vary up and down with interest rates over the life of the contract. We will set the value of the fixed payment for a period of time, for example, five years, and then reset it based on changes in interest rates.

The indexed payment will be set to cover ongoing costs that will be incurred during the life of the contract. This payment covers property rates, insurance, maintenance, tenancy management and capital replacement such as new carpet after 10 years.

This payment is set at contract commencement and then increases with inflation. We will use a composite index of inflation rates based on the expected costs, for example, insurance, wage inflation, building materials etcetera. This payment will be adjusted annually with this composite index of inflation for the life of the contract. It is not periodically reset like the fixed payment.

On screen:

This slide is headed ‘Cost-based funding model example’. Below the heading is a simple diagram showing an example of how the new funding model works.

The diagram looks the same as the previous one. There are two yellow boxes stacked on top of each other, separated by a plus symbol. The boxes and plus symbol are surrounded by a black border. On the right of the yellow boxes is an equals sign followed by two stacked green boxes with a plus symbol between and surrounded by a black border. There is another equals symbol then a large blue box. The top yellow box reads ‘Fixed payment sized to cover: mortgage payments of $500 per week’, the bottom yellow box reads ‘Indexed payment sized to cover: weekly ongoing costs of $150 per week’. The top green box reads ‘Rent paid by tenant (income-related rent or affordable rent): $100 per week’ and the bottom green box reads ‘Subsidy paid by the Ministry (income-related rent subsidy or affordable rent subsidy): $550 per week’. The blue box reads 'Revenue received by provider: $650 per week to cover fixed mortgage payments and indexed costs’.

Audio (Stacey Beer):

This slide shows an example of how the fixed and indexed payments will work. In this example, a provider delivers either a social or affordable rental home. The provider has a mortgage on the house that requires a weekly mortgage repayment of $500 per week and ongoing costs to cover property rates, insurance, maintenance, tenancy management and capital replacement of $150 per week. This means that the provider needs $650 per week in total and that's the revenue that is required. That will be the amount that is agreed between HUD and the provider in our contract.

It is important to point out that the tenant rent is included in this $650 per week. So, let's say the tenant in this example pays $100 per week. Therefore, the government tops up the provider to the agreed amount of $650 per week. This means that the provider will collect the $100 per week directly from the tenant and the government will pay the provider $550 per week. If the tenant rent was set at $50 per week, the government would top this up with $600 per week to make up the agreed amount of $650 per week. To confirm, this example applies to both social housing and affordable rentals. This is a shift from how both social housing and affordable rentals have been funded previously.

Providers will submit fortnightly invoices to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development for the government subsidy or top up and collect rent directly from the tenants.

On screen:

This slide is headed ‘New funding model: market rent funding’. Below the heading is a simple diagram showing an example of how the market rent funding model works.

This diagram has a large yellow box on the left, an equals symbol, then two stacked green boxes with a plus between them and a black border around them both. There is another equals symbol then a large blue box on the right. The text in the yellow box reads ‘Market rent (varies with market rental rates – can go up and down with rental market). The top green box reads ‘Rent paid by tenant (income-related rent or affordable rent)’ and the bottom green box reads ‘Subsidy paid by the Ministry (income-related rent subsidy or affordable rent subsidy). The blue box reads 'Revenue received by provider’.

Audio (Stacey Beer):

Our second funding model available is the market rent model. This model will be used where market rent is sufficient for the project to be financially viable. The model's entire payment will be equivalent to the agreed market rent indexed annually and mark to market every five years.

The contracts for this funding model could be for shorter terms to provide flexibility to both parties. Houses for which the Ministry has already funded the capital cost of the project will be eligible for this model at the end of their previous contract.

I will now hand over to Jae to discuss the assessment criteria and application process.

On screen:

Jaeyeon Choi appears in the top right-hand corner of the screen. She has long dark brown hair, and is wearing a grey, long sleeve top. The slide on screen is headed ‘application process and timeframes’ followed by ‘We will undertake a two-stage process to confirm our housing delivery programme.’ There are two headings underneath. The text under ‘stage one’ reads ‘Stage one will identify preferred delivery partners in each investment location and their proposed programme of delivery’. The text under ‘stage two’ reads ‘Stage two will assess and approve the projects that delivery partners identified in stage one’. There is a dotted line that stretches the width of the slide. Beneath it is text that reads ‘An application process information document will be released on the Ministry’s website which will provide further information about the application process. Applications for stage one will open by the end of February 2026 for four to six weeks’.

Audio (Jaeyeon Choi):

Thank you, Stacey. Kia ora koutou, my name is Jaeyeon Choi. I'm in the portfolio investment team with Erana, Siarn and Stacey.

The Ministry will confirm our housing delivery programme by undertaking a two-stage application.

Stage one will identify providers to become delivery partners in each investment location and their proposed programme of delivery. Stage two will assess and approve the projects that delivery partners identified in stage one.

In stage one, we'll be seeking sufficient information of what is proposed to be delivered to enable us to identify who is best placed to deliver in each investment location. The proposed delivery programme will be refined with delivery partners through stage two of the process.

Where appropriate, to minimise information required, the Ministry will utilise information it holds on track record, capability and capacity to deliver.

Providers will be asked to submit a summary overview of the intended project or programme of multiple projects, including locations and sites if known, number of homes, including any split between social housing and affordable rentals. Type of homes proposed, for example, number of bedrooms, and accessible enabled, alignment with community and local housing plans and strategies, delivery timeframes, initial cost estimates and evidence of ability to finance projects.

A short overview of the organisation and their track record of delivering social housing and or affordable rentals, or similar, including ongoing tenancy and property management, evidence the provider entity has the required capability and capacity to deliver the housing solutions within the proposal.

In stage two, delivery partners will submit detailed information on projects and delivery partners’ projects will be confirmed where they achieve our assessment criteria and meet our financial benchmarks.

Further details regarding the application process will be provided in the application process information document that will be released on the HUD website on 30 January 2026. This document will also outline the eligibility criteria for providers to apply for capital funding. Applications for stage one will open on 27 February 2026 for six weeks.

On screen:

The slide on screen is headed ‘Assessment criteria. Beneath are two lists titled ‘Assessment criteria’ and ‘Assessment section’. Below the ‘Assessment criteria’ heading there are bullets which read ‘alignment with purchasing intentions, commercial and financial viability and project delivery methodology’. Below the ‘Assessment section’ heading there are bullets which read ‘Alignment with purchasing intentions, social and community impact and outcomes, commercial and financial visibility, and previous track record, capability and capacity, project delivery and methodology’. 

Audio (Jaeyeon Choi):

Now, I will briefly touch on the overarching assessment criteria and explain the purpose of each.

The first part of this section is alignment with purchasing intentions.

We are seeking applications that deliver houses in the investment locations that are outlined in the purchasing intentions and can be funded within the range of homes per location and align with our preferred bedroom types and delivery mode.

The second part of this section is social and community impact and outcomes.

We want to fund proposals that will achieve positive outcomes not only for the people who will be housed but also the wider community, including local economic benefits.

We will prioritise proposals that align with local housing plans and strategies, including council and iwi housing strategies and mana whenua engagement, with supporting evidence to show that they will meet the aspirations of communities and whānau.  

The next section is commercial and financial viability which is broken down into four parts.

The first part is cost of proposal to government. We will prioritise proposals that provide homes for a lower cost to government while supporting good outcomes for people and place. Costs include the upfront cost of development cost or purchase price, ongoing costs of delivery and finance costs.

The second part is entity and risk allocation. We wish to be informed of key components of the intended entity structures, such as the commercial structure and risk allocation between participating parties. We will then understand where risks will be carried, for example, which party will be carrying development and construction risk and how this risk will be managed and mitigated.

The third part is financing structure and strength. We will require evidence that providers will have the required capital and or finance to undertake the projects, to ensure the financing structure proposed is deliverable and appropriate.

The last part of this section is capital contribution. We expect providers to utilise their balance sheets and existing assets as equity in the first instance. Some capital funding may be available, for example, where a provider has exhausted all other options.

The final section of the assessment criteria is project delivery and methodology.

We want to work with providers individually, or collectively as part of a proposed partnership, who have a good track record in delivering social housing and affordable rentals or similar, such as development and construction as well as ongoing tenancy and property management. For example, a developer who can deliver suitable homes at low cost working with a provider who excels at tenancy management.

We also want to work with providers who have the appropriate capability, specifically staff with the appropriate skills and experience, as well as commercial management and governance structures and associated policies in place. Providers should also have the necessary capacity to deliver projects alongside their other project commitments.

We want to fund proposals that can be delivered on time, on budget and to the specifications agreed (including accessibility features and any necessary regulatory compliance standards, including the newly released New Zealand Government Procurement Rules). We will review the proposals to assess and determine the confidence in the deliverability and timeframes for delivery.

Further detail for each assessment criteria will be available in the application process information document.

This brings us to the end of the information briefing.

For more information relating to the investment plan, please review the investment plan webpage on the HUD website, the application process information document, which will be released on 30 January 2026, or, if you have any specific questions, please email us and we’ll come back to you.

I’ll now hand back to Erana.

On screen:

The next slide appears, and it has a dark blue background with a photograph of a man and a child on a bike to the right. White overlaid text reads ‘Thank you, information briefing, December 2025’. Erana reappears in the top right-hand box. 

Audio (Erana Sitterle):

Thank you all for watching our session today. Please do get in touch if you have further questions. Our team really looks forward to receiving any further questions and applications next year.

On screen:

A slide with a white background appears. At the top is the Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga – Ministry of Housing and Urban Development logo and the New Zealand Government logo. Below is black text that reads ‘www.hud.govt.nz’. Beneath is a repeating pattern of the Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga values which includes diagonal lines of chevrons, swirls and interlocking lines.