It’s pleasing that all regions outside of Auckland will move from Alert Level 3 to Alert Level 2 at midnight tonight. We know it has been a busy time restarting site work and we want to thank you all for your patience and for your adherence to Government guidance over the past few weeks.

We also want to acknowledge our partners and contractors who moved quickly to safely close down our sites following the recent move to Alert Level 4. 

The scale of our construction activity is significant. This is especially true given how quickly, together, we have scaled up the housing programme.

Our seven large-scale programmes in Auckland and Wellington will deliver over 40,000 additional homes for New Zealanders once complete, while our housing programme will increase the stock of public homes by over 6,000. Currently Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities has more than 90 build and development partners and many more subcontractors working across approximately 580 public, affordable and market housing projects nationwide. Once complete, these projects alone will deliver thousands of much-needed homes for New Zealanders.  These homes are part of the commitment the Government has made to add around 18,000 additional public houses by the end of 2024.

To our partners with sites underway in Auckland, we appreciate that you are keen to get your teams back on site when it is safe to do so, and we are here to support you. In the meantime, Kāinga Ora has developed a strategy to support your cash flow. As you know, we have made our prompt payment scheme permanent.

We have also put other measures in place, such as releasing retentions, where applicable, on public housing projects. This is, of course, subject to the release of retentions held under any subcontracts. Please do reach out to your Kāinga Ora contact if we can provide any further assistance. 

A reminder too, that the Government is offering assistance in the form of the Wage Subsidy Scheme and the Resurgence Support Payment

Building Momentum and Fly the Flag events postponed

Kāinga Ora would like to thank the more than 200 industry partners who registered to attend our Building Momentum event, which was to take place in Auckland at the end of August but was postponed due to COVID-19. These events are an important way for our organisation to hear from the industry about how we can together improve our housing delivery programmes. As such, we are tentatively planning face-to-face events for late October / early November in Auckland and Wellington. We’ll provide more details on this as they’re firmed up, depending on the unfolding lockdown situation.

The Fly the Flag campaign organised by MATES in Construction  to mark World Suicide Prevention Day has also been postponed. The campaign will now kick off on 10 November. Lockdown is a tough time for many – look out for your colleagues and reach out if you need help.

Message from our land development, construction, commercial and urban planning leaders​

Bryndwr development underway
Pre-demolition works have started at Bevin/Aorangi/Clyde in Bryndwr for one of the largest builds in the Christchurch pipeline. Thirty-four new homes will be built, a mix of 1-5 bedrooms, mostly two-storey and 15 to Universal Design Standards. Construction is scheduled to start in the New Year, with completion early 2023.

Member of Construction Sector Accord Network
Kāinga Ora is a proud member of the newly formed Construction Sector Accord Network, as announced by Minister Williams and Minister Woods in early August. As a member, we have committed to upholding the Accord Network Pledge, with principles focused on increasing productivity, raising capability, improving resilience and building confidence, pride and reputation. Members complete a self-assessment of procurement contract and payment practices, people development, health, safety and wellbeing, and environmental sustainability. We look forward to working with our fellow members to enable high standards of practice and support a stronger, more resilient construction sector for all.  

First national deconstruction panel 
As mentioned in the March bulletin, Kāinga Ora has set up a new site clearance panel to help meet its new waste minimisation targets. This panel includes relocation, deconstruction and demolition subcategories. The deconstruction panel currently includes Auckland contractors only, with the relocation and demolition panels being national in coverage.

We are now looking to create the country’s first national deconstruction panel by expanding the Auckland panel. We conducted an Expression of Interest exercise in May to find out about regional capacity, as well as key infrastructure and capability constraints.  

This information will help us to establish regional waste diversion targets. We expect to issue an RFP for contractors interested in joining the national deconstruction panel later this week. Respondents will be invited to participate in online briefings shortly thereafter. Keep an eye on the Government Electronic Tendering Service (GETS) and Tenderlink for more information.

Infrastructure Acceleration Fund
The initial expressions of interest period for the Infrastructure Acceleration Fund
closed on Friday 20 August, after a two-day extension due to Covid-19 Level 4 restrictions. The contestable fund of at least $1b is designed to allocate funding to infrastructure projects that unlock housing development in the short- to medium- term, enabling meaningful contribution to housing outcomes in areas of need. The Fund has received a large number of applications that will now go through a robust evaluation process with applicants informed of results in mid-October

Te Kauwhata land sales
Earlier this month, Kāinga Ora released 224 lots to the market for the delivery of affordable and market homes at Lakeside, Te Kauwhata. Stage 1 comprises  a total area of 8.45ha and supports a yield of approximately 224 homes.

The closing date for submission will be 4pm, 14 October 2021. For more information, email procurement-UDD@kaingaora.govt.nz or go to www.lakeside.nz

First Kāinga Ora Passive House development underway

Kāinga Ora has taken a further step towards low carbon public housing, receiving design endorsement to build 18 homes to Passive House standard in Māngere, Auckland. 

The three-storey Bader Ventura development will deliver a reduced operational carbon footprint, and mean the homes can be heated and cooled for as little as $1 per day.  

Kāinga Ora General Manager Construction and Innovation Patrick Dougherty says the development will be a win for both the environment and the homes’ new occupants. 

“For Kāinga Ora as a major property developer, Bader Ventura is a big step towards meeting MBIE’s Building for Climate Change 2035 proposed final thermal performance cap. What’s more, this Passive House project is due for completion in 2023, 12 years ahead of industry expectation. 

“Our customers living in these homes will have reduced heating costs by around 85 per cent, which means an average energy bill for heating of around $360, or $1 a day, compared with about $2,000 for a standard Kāinga Ora home built to 6 Homestar standard.” 

Bader Ventura is the first Passive House pilot for Kāinga Ora and the first in its Carbon Neutral Housing Programme. The project is also on track to deliver Australasia’s first Passive House public housing development funded by central government.

Kāinga Ora will undertake continuous reporting of performance and learnings throughout construction and after occupancy, sharing findings with the wider industry.

Chelydra Percy, BRANZ CEO says the desire to take meaningful climate and environmental action is evident within the construction sector.  

“Kāinga Ora is setting a high standard for others within the building and construction sector. The Bader Ventura development demonstrates that low carbon buildings can, and are being delivered, within New Zealand. The project is an open challenge to our industry, that we all must step up and address our climate change emission reduction obligations now.”   

Passive House is still a new concept in New Zealand, and Kāinga Ora is pleased to be leading lower carbon construction by example alongside our dedicated project partners: Precision Construction (build partner), Peddlethorp (architects), Oculus (Passive House lead and façade engineers​), Kirk Roberts (structural engineers), and 2PIR (building services engineers).

First Kāinga Ora Passive House, Bader Ventura development in Māngere, Auckland.

“Quite frankly we can’t deliver any value to our customers without the mahi from our suppliers. Our suppliers are like the cog in the wheel and without the cog the wheel simply won’t turn."

“Our suppliers are key to our success and we partner with the private sector to achieve our outcomes. Our role is to facilitate and fund housing supply; our suppliers provide technical expertise and do the hands-on work on site. We are working to enhance our supplier engagement to drive a more strategic integrated approach, and the voice of our suppliers will be key to this.”

To this end, Caroline is particularly proud of the creation of the Commercial Group which she describes as the ‘front door’ of all commercial activity at Kāinga Ora.

“We [the Commercial Group] do everything from identifying new suppliers and managing existing supplier relationships to buying and selling land and privately developed state homes. We manage a suite of home ownership products and funds to enable housing development and look for innovative ways to do business.

Having all these functions now grouped together increases oversight and efficiency to improve our partner and supplier relationships, helping us to deliver more collaboratively for our customers.”

In five years’ time, Caroline would like to see Kāinga Ora become a partner of choice for our suppliers. 

“We first need to deeply understand the perception of our important suppliers in the market, as that is our reality. We’re working to specifically understand what the experience of doing business with us is like.

“Are we clear on our goals and aspirations? Also, are we providing and instilling confidence in our forward work programmes? As we gain a deeper understanding, this will drive focus and direction for the team. Watch this space.”

For more information on working with Kāinga Ora check out https://kaingaora.govt.nz/working-with-us/ or email the Commercial Group at cco@kaingaora.govt.nz.