ISSUE 38 | SEPTEMBER 2026

In this issue, read about our newest delivery milestones – and find opportunities for contributing to the next one.

Kia ora koutou,

As our transformation journey at Kāinga Ora keeps building momentum, our teams continue to deliver impactful work that provides stability and assurance – for our customers, and for the industry we partner with to serve them.

In this edition of Development and Construction Matters, you’ll see a great example of that when you read about the milestone reached by our Housing Delivery System (HDS). In just a few years, our team has grown HDS from a pilot programme into a nationwide framework that provides the industry with ongoing opportunities across hundreds of housing projects.

In the Urban Development and Delivery (UDD) space, this very publication includes similar industry opportunities within our large-scale projects. You’ll also find out how those opportunities create value for our developer partners.

All of this makes for an important edition of our industry newsletter, but it’s one that’s significant for another reason – it will be the last before we officially farewell Nick Howcroft, General Manager UDD, who has taken up a new opportunity in Australia.

In turn, Nick’s departure has presented an opportunity to further strengthen our continued transformation at Kāinga Ora, by bringing our UDD and Housing Delivery Group functions into a single team. This new structure came into effect on Monday, and I’m proud to confirm I’ve been appointed to lead our unified delivery function.

By integrating end-to-end delivery across social housing, infrastructure and urban development, we'll build on what we’ve already achieved and create an even stronger organisation for the future.

To prepare for this, Nick and I have been working together to ensure a seamless transition where our priorities, commitments and work programmes remain unchanged. This provides the continuity and stability that will help our teams keep building on the successful year we’ve just had. Keep an eye out for further updates in that space, as we’re looking forward to soon sharing our delivery numbers and organisational performance from the last financial year.

In the meantime, I want to acknowledge the significant contribution Nick has made over almost eight years at Kāinga Ora – working across housing delivery, transformation and urban development before being appointed to lead UDD. As General Manager, he led the group through a period of considerable change while maintaining a strong focus on delivery and supporting our broader transformation programme.

As a result, alongside the hard work of people across Kāinga Ora and the industry, our newly-integrated delivery function is well prepared to help us keep reaching our objectives – with shared confidence in the road ahead.

Ngā mihi nui,

Caroline McDowall
Chief Housing Delivery Officer – Kāinga Ora

Fast, efficient, and a reliable pipeline for partners: Housing Delivery System reaches significant milestone

It began with one home in Christchurch, delivered in February 2023. Now, our Housing Delivery System (HDS) has marked the completion of 2,000 homes across the country.

From 30 homes delivered in its first year, HDS has grown into a system of 250 active projects at any one time – involving eight consultant disciplines, more than 30 build partners and up to 13 different trades on each site.

Housing Delivery Director Jannie Greeff says teams have “refined and strengthened the way we work” to create a proven system that provides a reliable pipeline of work for the construction industry.

Over the next financial year, more than 1,000 new homes are expected to be completed through HDS – one of the ways we’re delivering new state homes as we continue our nationwide renewals programme.

“One of the key strengths of the HDS is the consistency it provides,” Jannie says.

“With hundreds of projects progressing at any one time, it creates ongoing opportunities for contractors and tradespeople while helping ensure homes are delivered efficiently across the country for the people who need them most.”

What is HDS?
The Housing Delivery System (HDS) provides us with a clear framework for planning and delivering homes, helping teams work more efficiently and predictably. It brings specialist teams together from the outset and uses detailed, realistic planning to improve coordination, speed up decisions and keep projects moving smoothly.

More than a land sale: How our partnerships help developers deliver and sell homes

“Being able to connect with purchasers – particularly first-home buyers – through Kāinga Ora channels, products and tools helps us ensure the homes we’re delivering are reaching the right audiences.”

For Neilston Homes General Manager Gerard Costello, that's one of the most valuable benefits of a partnership with Kāinga Ora.

Access to development-ready land is the starting point, but he says the real value lies in the wider support around infrastructure, planning and buyer awareness.

Looking for land sales opportunities of your own? Keep reading to see our newest listings.

Low-carbon concrete: the build standard driving down emissions

Imagine driving the length of every road in New Zealand 106 times. Without stopping for a break, it’d take you more than 14 years.

By then, you would have driven 10 million kilometres, producing nearly the same emissions we expect to save each year through our new low-carbon concrete requirement.

In July, we introduced a standard requiring all ready-mix concrete and precast panels used in new Kāinga Ora construction projects achieve at least a 30 percent reduction in carbon emissions against the Infrastructure Sustainability Council's 2020 baseline.

Across our build programme, the change is expected to reduce emissions by around 2,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually.

What does this mean for build partners?
The only change for build partners is a need to ensure suppliers provide low-carbon concrete, making this a practical, cost-effective method for reducing emissions on our projects.

We issued a Client Instruction about the change in July. If you have questions about a specific housing project, please contact a member of our Development Team.

The new standard is also set out in Ngā Paerewa Hoahoa Whare: Design Requirements v2.1. For questions about our updated design requirements, email standards@kaingaora.govt.nz.

Meet the Nelson builders helping us house families in need

Photo: Dan, Emma and Sam from Johnson Residential.

Dan will never forget completing and handing over the keys to a new Kāinga Ora home ahead of schedule.

The Nelson-based construction manager was part of the team at Johnson Residential who pushed to finish the home early so a whānau could spend their first Christmas there.

“It was rewarding when we heard the Mum and kids were just blown away to be in their home,” Dan says.

“We never met them, it was just the idea of it which was so rewarding because we finished the home well ahead of schedule.”

Dan, director Sam, project manager Emma and the team at Johnson Residential have worked alongside local subcontractors to complete four Kāinga Ora developments in the Nelson-Tasman region so far.

“We’re very lucky to be busy so we can give subbies work and they can grow their teams,” Sam says.

“If they’ve got workflow, they’ve got the confidence to take on apprentices.”

‘A much-needed boost to social housing in central Wellington’: new plans outlined for Arlington

Updated plans for our Arlington development site are set to bring more than 100 new social homes to the heart of the capital.

Later this month, the Wellington City Council is expected to decide whether to approve a variation to our existing lease of the central city site. If the variation, a detailed investment case and the necessary building and resource consents are all approved, 104 new smaller and family homes will be built.

Sarah Willson, Regional Director Greater Wellington, says the revised plan “ensures the best possible use of public funding while delivering homes where they’re needed”.

“We’re anticipating the revised plan will provide a much-needed boost to social housing in central Wellington and will allow for further housing development at Arlington, which we’ll work through with Wellington City Council,” she says.

‘It’s about reliability’: A day in the life of a preconstruction mini business unit

For Bianca Hitha-Neumann and her team, delivering homes at pace doesn’t mean having to rush.

“It’s not about doing work faster, it’s about reliability – doing what we said we would do, when we said we would do it,” she says.

Bianca is the Workstream Lead for one of three Preconstruction mini business units at Kāinga Ora.
Together, these teams design, plan and sequence the delivery of new public homes through the Housing Delivery System (HDS).

“HDS is simply how we plan and build homes,” Bianca says. “It helps deliver warm, dry, quality homes for whānau, faster and at lower cost.”

So how do we deliver new homes faster without rushing the work? Check out A day in the life of a preconstruction MBU to find out.

Ready to grow your development pipeline?

We have build-ready land opportunities across our large-scale projects, with supporting infrastructure and civil works already in place to help reduce risk and accelerate delivery.

Two new opportunities are available now through our UDD Land Sales portal, with additional superlots and listings added regularly.

By pre-qualifying, you’ll gain access to detailed site information so you can explore partnership opportunities with us.

Waikōwhai – Stages 4 and 4B

Aorere – Mangere Development

In other news:

• As a low-income family, home ownership was a dream Alex and Santana never thought would come true. But when they spoke with a mortgage broker, they were found out they were much closer than they thought. After nearly 10 years in a Kāinga Ora house, the family of eight have bought their first home with the support of a First Home Loan.
   

• June and July are usually our biggest months for delivering homes across Aotearoa. This year was no different, with 662 new homes completed and 92 significantly renovated during the two months – all as part of our renewals programme, which is making sure our homes better meet New Zealanders’ needs, now and into the future.
   

• After becoming homeless during Cyclone Gabrielle, Lisa and her youngest daughter spent nearly two years moving between marae, crowded family homes, a vehicle and emergency housing. A year ago, they moved into a permanent home in Wairoa. We recently caught up with Lisa and found those first 12 months had been “amazing”.
   

• Twenty homes in Wellington were recently given a new lease on life through our nationwide programme to significantly improve older state houses. Extensive renovation work on the 1960s three-bedroom homes in Kilbirnie was completed in July, modernising them and extending their lifespan by up to 50 years.