ISSUE 32 | JUNE 2024
This issue
In this issue, we provide an update on recent government announcements about Kāinga Ora and highlight changes to how we will deliver social housing in the future.
On design and architecture:
Learn about how five Kāinga Ora developments have been recognised for their exceptional design and innovative construction at the recent Property Industry Awards.
For building innovation:
Discover how Kāinga Ora is trialling a new approach to delivering homes by getting directly involved in materials supply and logistics.
On urban planning and development:
Read about our Northcote Large-Scale Project celebrating a major urban development milestone and how local rangatahi inspired a neighbourhood park upgrade.
Delivering new state homes:
Hear about the thousands of homes we have delivered this year, including key highlights.
Message from our land development, construction, commercial and urban planning leaders
Tēnā koutou,
You’ll likely be aware of recent Government announcements on the housing sector and the plans to continue the supply of social housing.
These mean some changes for Kāinga Ora and our work programmes.
Firstly, we still have a massive job to do - we have around 4,000 state homes to complete construction before 30 June 2025 and several large urban development projects underway enabling more housing for Aotearoa. We continue to upgrade and maintain our portfolio of 74,000 state houses and, most importantly, support over 190,000 individuals and whānau living in them.
A key change for us recently was the appointment of our new Board Chair, Simon Moutter, who took on the role on 4 June.
Following the Independent Review Panel's report into Kāinga Ora, the new Chair and a refreshed Board have been tasked by the Government to present a financial performance plan to Ministers by November 2024. This plan will help determine the priorities the Government will set for Kāinga Ora.
In the meantime, announcements relating to the funding of various programmes and the need to continue achieving further savings and efficiencies across parts of the agency have seen us make changes to how we operate and deliver housing going forward.
We have begun consultation on changes for some teams, and we are reassessing our social housing pipeline to ensure value for money and alignment with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development's (MHUD) priorities.
We will inform our partners about individual projects they may be involved with as decisions are made and will keep you updated with progress on our change programmes over the coming months.
Ngā mihi maioha,
Patrick, Caroline, Mark, Hayley, and Matt
Haere Mai, Simon
Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities is pleased to welcome Simon Moutter as the new Chair of the Kāinga Ora Board of Directors.
We are grateful to John Duncan for his capable stewardship following the departure of our previous Chair, Vui Mark Gosche, in February.
Simon Moutter is renowned for leading Spark New Zealand as Managing Director from 2012 to 2019, overseeing the transformation of Telecom NZ into Spark. Before this, he served as Chief Operating Officer of Telecom NZ from 2003 to 2008.
Simon's leadership extended beyond telecommunications when he helmed Auckland International Airport as CEO for four years, driving significant growth. His achievements were lauded in 2017 when he was honoured as New Zealand CEO of the Year at the Deloitte Top 200 Awards.
Presently, Simon holds a directorial position at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and chairs three private companies. With a strong background in the energy sector and academic qualifications in engineering and science, Simon uses his expertise to accelerate enterprise growth.
Nau mai ki Kāinga Ora, Simon!
“I'm looking forward to the opportunity to make a contribution to the provision of social housing, a service that is important to a healthy and well-functioning society."
Simon Moutter, Chair of the Kāinga Ora Board
Northcote's Infrastructure Renaissance: A Beacon of Urban Development
The Auckland suburb of Northcote recently celebrated a major milestone in its regeneration, with the completion of civil infrastructure works at this Kāinga Ora Large-Scale Project (LSP).
Over the past five years, we have collaborated closely with our civil construction partner, the LEAD Alliance, Auckland Council and Council Controlled Organisations to deliver extensive upgrades to roads, parks, and stormwater networks. A whopping 12 kilometres of utility lines have been undergrounded, streams have been daylighted and hundreds of trees have been planted.
Find out how this urban development sets the stage for the construction of hundreds of new social, market and affordable homes.
Also, check out the video below highlighting the pride rangatahi in Northcote feel for engaging with us to design a neighbourhood park - Cadness Loop Reserve.
Streamlining materials supply
The supply of materials significantly influences the pace of work at construction sites. That’s why Kāinga Ora is getting more actively involved in materials procurement and logistics.
The Materials Research Programme, co-designed with our suppliers and build partners, will be trialled on the construction of more than 100 homes across 15 development sites in Rotorua.
Learn about our in-depth exploration of materials supply as part of our ongoing efforts to enhance onsite productivity and minimise waste.
“Through this trial, we are aiming to ensure exactly the right materials are delivered to site when and where they’re needed."
Matt Hulett, GM - Delivery Transformation Group at Kāinga Ora
Ninety new homes for New Zealanders - every week
Kāinga Ora is on track to deliver approximately 4,800 new state homes by 30 June 2024 – that's an average of ninety new homes for New Zealanders, every week.
Recent highlights include 80 new homes in central Wellington, Taranaki’s largest social housing project in 30 years, and three new homes built in just 47 days.
Read more about some of the latest housing developments we have delivered with our partners in communities throughout the country.
"Hard to Fault" - Social housing developments garner recognition
We are immensely proud that multiple Kāinga Ora developments across the motu have won awards for their great design, masterful urban planning, and thoughtful build innovation.
The 2024 Property Industry Awards saw five of our developments receive accolades, including a Best Overall win in the Community and Affordable Housing category for our development at Riccarton Road, Christchurch. Read more about the other winning projects delivered with the help of our amazing build, development, and design partners.
Our projects were also recently celebrated at the NZ Institute of Landscape Architects Awards, the Master Builders Association’s Awards, and multiple local NZ Institute of Architects Awards.
Seeking the best for the North-West
Auckland’s North-West has been reconfirmed as a spatial priority area in the city's Future Development Strategy, enabling investment and joined-up planning to support the anticipated growth.
This kind of large-scale urban development is complex, requiring strong partnership and collaboration. The recently established North-West PDA (Priority Development Area) group is made up of representatives from a wide variety of central and local government agencies.
Find out more about the group’s goals for this year and how this collaboration is also bringing together the public and private sectors to help achieve development outcomes for the North-West.
Doors open on massive social housing development in Auckland
The doors are opening on Community Lane & Great North Road, one of Auckland’s largest social housing projects, with 206 of the 236 apartments now ready to welcome home hundreds.
Read more about the state homes for older residents, featuring wide corridors, ramps, and adaptable designs for disabilities.
Masterplanning for Universal Design
We will all likely face challenges navigating public infrastructure - streets, parks, and places - at some time in our lives, often exasperated by inadequate urban design.
To help make public environments better for all, Kāinga Ora has developed and published a new guide - Masterplanning for Universal Design - simplifying what universal design is, and how it can be achieved.
The document is the result of over two years of expert engagement and valuable input from organisations such as Living Streets Aotearoa, Disability Connect and local authorities.
Hear from George Weeks, our Principal Urban Designer, about how a universally designed neighbourhood helps foster community connection.
Need to know:
We recently updated our Design Requirements to reflect that level thresholds at the main entry are no longer required.
Kāinga Ora has paused the requirement for our developer partners to meet the new (Version 5) 6 Homestar standard for market and affordable homes in our Large-Scale Projects (LSPs). We actively support the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC) and its Homestar standard. However, we've decided not to implement Version 5 as a requirement for market and affordable homes at this point in time due to potential extra costs and design implications, which could strain developers financially. Developers must still comply with the new building code (H1) standards.
Kāinga Ora updated the Retrofit Design Standard on 1 June 2024, with all new Retrofit Programme projects to be built to these criteria. Ongoing projects that began before 1 June will be reviewed by a Kāinga Ora Delivery Team, and if practicable, opportunities to align with the new Standard may be requested (as long as there are no adverse impacts on costs or work timelines).
