Major milestone achieved for Māori housing
Published 11 May 23
Ambitious goals were set for Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga (to have a home, to have wellbeing) - to build 1,000 new homes, undertake repairs and maintenance to 700 homes, and provide infrastructure support for 2,700 homes.
Through the Whāi Kainga Whai Oranga funding programme and our partnerships with iwi/Māori, we are pleased to announce that we have achieved the milestone of contracting over 1,000 new homes to be delivered by the end of June 2025.
Our commitment to partnering with Māori, local government and other agencies is having real impacts for whānau. For the period ending March 2023, there had been an increase of 59 homes bringing the total supply approved or contracted from 959 to 1,018. In addition, 95 infrastructure sites have been funded bringing the total of infrastructure sites approved or contracted to 1615.
“This approach requires successful partnerships with Māori to address the housing and urban challenges in your community. All our partnerships apply a kaupapa Māori lens to deliver solutions that are relevant to and co-delivered by Māori - He whare nā te Māori, mō te Māori, me te Māori - Housing by Māori, for Māori and with Māori, says Andrew Crisp.”
HUD has signed four iwi partnership agreements with the four iwi-led collectives to prototype their housing supply delivery models in priority regions, Te Taitokerau, Te Tairāwhiti, Taranaki, Hawkes Bay and Bay of Plenty. These prototypes will deliver more than 550 homes for whānau on their whenua.
We acknowledge that there are critical gaps for whānau Māori in the housing system. We are aiming to address those gaps by changing the system. Placing whānau and Te Tiriti o Waitangi at the heart of what we do is critical to creating a more equitable housing system across Aotearoa New Zealand.
Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga is a four-year, $730 million commitment to speed up the delivery of Māori-led housing. It funds both small-scale Māori housing projects and larger developments, from repairing existing homes to building new ones. Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga is jointly delivered with Te Puni Kōkiri and Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga - Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.