ISSUE 36 | DECEMBER 2025

In this issue, meet our new Chief Executive and bust some build programme myths.

Tēnā koutou,

To call 2025 a significant year for Kāinga Ora would be an understatement.

Our organisational reset has brought about extraordinary change – necessary change that sharpened our focus on our core mission, strengthened our operating model and made us more financially sustainable.

This edition of Development and Construction Matters comes to you on my first day as Chief Executive of Kāinga Ora, and I want it to begin with a thank you – for your ongoing support during our reset, and your continued advocacy for mahi that is essential to the wellbeing of our communities.

It is both a privilege and a profound responsibility to lead the organisation from here, into what will be a period of true transformation. From 2026, you can expect a Kāinga Ora that is simpler to work with.

But before I look ahead, I want to acknowledge our outgoing Chief Executive, Matt Crockett, who led us through a reset that re-established the foundations, financial sustainability and organisational performance that will be our springboard for continued transformation.

Matt stepped into a role that required stabilisation, discipline, and the courage to make difficult calls. I learned a lot as I worked alongside him for the past 12 months, and I am thankful for his hard mahi – it is the catalyst for ensuring we can continue to meaningfully serve our communities across Aotearoa for generations to come.

My vision for Kāinga Ora is of an agency of systems thinkers – systems leaders – who build and strengthen partnerships across the entire sector to grow and develop that system.

We will be clearer in purpose, in decision-making, and more predictable in delivery, because we understand that consistency is what high performance looks like. It means bringing an owner's mindset to our work and paying careful attention to every dollar we spend on behalf of all New Zealanders.

These principles will define the next phase of our transformation, and each will be deeply grounded in a focus on our tenants, whānau and communities. Their wellbeing is central to the system we seek to strengthen, so they will be at the heart of every decision we make.

Already, Matt’s leadership and direction have produced significant results for Kāinga Ora, and I am honoured to take responsibility for ensuring this momentum continues to grow.

If you were unable to join us for Inside the Change, our recent live event, be sure to watch the recording – you’ll find it below – to learn more about our recent achievements and how we’re using them as a transformation launchpad.

I can’t wait to keep working with you all in the new year. Until then, I want to wish you a safe, relaxed holiday season while you take a well-deserved break.

Ngā mihi maioha,

Tracey Taylor
Chief Executive, Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities

‘Dispelling the myth that Kāinga Ora has stopped building’

At the start of the month, Tracey was joined by outgoing Chief Executive Matt Crockett and Kāinga Ora Board Chair Simon Moutter to host Inside the Change, a live event for our stakeholders.

They discussed the progress made due to a sharpened focus on our core mission: stronger tenancy management, better housing portfolio performance, clearer decision-making and more disciplined cost control. We’re delivering more for tenants thanks to greater stability and consistency in our planning, maintenance and renewals activities.

And on the latter, outgoing Chief Executive Matt Crockett was clear:

“I really do want to start by dispelling the myth that Kainga Ora has stopped building or isn't building,” he said.

For the next few years, we will renew about 2,000 homes each year. By 2030, we aim to have renovated or replaced about 11,500 older homes. That means a steady pipeline of activity and opportunities to partner with us and deliver for New Zealanders. 

As Matt announced in June, about 36 hectares of our vacant land holdings will be sold over 12 to 18 months. So too will about 900-1,000 state homes that are no longer suitable for social housing.

The industry benefits from these sales are two-fold: they create more opportunities to increase New Zealand’s housing supply, but they also help to fund our future activity.

“Every dollar that we get from selling either properties or land is being redeployed back into our renewal programme,” Matt said during Inside the Change.

The recent high-profile $3.4 million sale of a Ponsonby villa was a prime example of sales unlocking future development.

“The money from that is enough for us to do 12-plus extensive retrofits of older homes,” he said.

Significant eastern Porirua infrastructure projects ramp up

Improved water quality, reduced flood risk, and more homes enabled for a growing community.
 
These are just three ways a two-year upgrade and wetland construction project in Cannons Creek Park will benefit current and future residents of the area.
 
“But this space is more than a project,” says Nick Howcroft, acting General Manager – Urban Development and Delivery.
 
“It’s a living connection between land and sea, a reminder of how water shapes our communities, our wellbeing, and the biodiversity that sustains us.”
 
The park and wetland upgrade is one of two major infrastructure projects starting under our large-scale project Te Rā Nui – Eastern Porirua Development during this financial year.
 
Both are also among the first examples of significant civil construction projects being delivered directly by Kāinga Ora as we transition from an alliance delivery model previously adopted for our large-scale projects.
 
Nick was joined by more than 100 community members and groups, Porirua Mayor Anita Baker and representatives from Ngāti Toa Rangatira last month, to celebrate the beginning of on-site works. Lead contractor JFC is in the process of putting environmental controls in place to allow for earthworks to begin.
 
Once completed, the wetland and upgraded sports fields will be surrounded by new recreational spaces and accessible paths to help everyone make the most of the area and its improved biodiversity.
 
The second project is construction of a new water reservoir in Stemhead Lane, Whitby, to ensure current and future Porirua residents have ample supply and access to clean drinking water every day.
 
The new reservoir, built by HEB Construction, will hold nine million litres of clean drinking water – increasing the area’s total to 13.5 million litres. It’ll be completely sealed and was designed using modern earthquake data and modelling for the area.

Renewals: Right size, right location

The 2,000 yearly homes highlighted during Inside the Change are part of our renewals programme – but the benefits go beyond the volume delivered.

Caroline McDowall, General Manager Housing Delivery, says replacing older, unsuitable homes with modern, new ones, means we can maintain them more easily and efficiently.

Renewing housing stock also means we can reconfigure our portfolio to ensure social homes are in the areas that best fit people’s needs.

“This means our tenants will benefit from warmer, drier and healthier homes that are the right size and in the right locations,” she says.

Significant renovations to existing homes will add at least 50 years to their lifespan and, as with new builds, will make them less costly to maintain. Currently, about 65 percent of our maintenance spend goes towards upkeep of older Kāinga Ora homes.

By 2055, our aim is to have renovated or replaced about 40,000 homes – more than half of our housing portfolio.

Partnership opportunities: large-scale project superlots for sale

We're a trusted partner for residential property developers across Aotearoa, and we have land parcels for sale that suit and support the growth of companies of all sizes.

When we sell land in our large-scale projects, it comes complete with all the infrastructure and civil construction works needed to ensure you can begin building quickly, with confidence, and with reduced financial uncertainty.

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

Don’t miss the opportunity that’s right for you – by completing our pre-qualification process, you’ll gain access to detailed information and ensure your eligibility to purchase and develop with Kāinga Ora Urban Development and Delivery.

Harrier Point – Hobsonville Point

Oranga – Stage 4 & 5

In other news:

• New Zealand’s most valuable state house – a century-old villa in Ponsonby, Auckland – has sold at auction for $3.4 million, marking another step forward in our renewal and replacement of state housing.
   

• Our project at the former Longford Tavern site in Gore, set to deliver 16 new social homes, has begun. The development will include 14 single-storey stand-alone homes, comprising of two bedrooms, and one pair of duplexes.
   

• A major housing development in Wairoa is not only delivering much-needed homes, but creating valuable employment and training opportunities for local people.
   

• After delivering 183 new state homes in the Dunedin area over the past three years, and with a further 51 expected to be completed by June 2026, we made the decision to sell the former Aaron Lodge site in Dunedin.
   

• There were celebrations in Te Kūiti when we completed 11 new homes for the community. Delivered in partnership with Waitomo District Council and local iwi, the development reflects strong community collaboration, with the homes designed to meet the diverse needs of local whānau.