More Measures To Build More Affordable Homes – NZ Government

· Affordable Housing Fund – first round opens

· Progressive Home Ownership Fund – 183 more homes

· KiwiBuild:

o price caps adjusted to maintain construction momentum

o income caps lifted for two or more buyers – $200,000

o new income cap for single buyers with dependents – $150,000

o price cap exemptions for housing larger families and those with accessibility needs

First home buyers and renters are set to benefit from measures getting underway to support more new affordable homes for people and their whānau, says Housing Minister, Dr Megan Woods.

“Since we came into Government, we have been hitting the housing crisis we inherited with initiatives to get new housing underway, and it’s starting to work. We’re seeing the green shoots of change with a busy construction sector and record numbers of residential building consents – a 66% increase since 2017*.

“Our massive investment in infrastructure like pipes and roads to enable new housing is starting to roll out, and urban development changes we’ve made to allow more homes to be built is seeing a big increase in new developments.

“The initiatives I’m announcing today will continue the strong pipeline of building activity and support thousands of jobs, resulting in more affordable homes for first home buyers, as well as for renters on low to moderate incomes.

“Not-for-profit groups looking to develop new rental homes for households on lower incomes that stay affordable over the long-term, can start the application process for the first tranche of funding available from the $350 million Affordable Housing Fund announced in Budget 2022.

“The first $50 million of this fund is targeted to rental developments for lower income people who cannot afford a market rent but can’t access public housing. This will make projects to develop and sustain new affordable rental housing financially viable.

“We’re making it available in areas with high need for affordable rentals including:

· Auckland

· Tauranga-Western Bay

· Rotorua

· Napier-Hastings

· Wellington metro (including Wellington, Porirua, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt and Kapiti), and

· Nelson-Tasman.

“Our Progressive Home Ownership Fund is giving people who would not otherwise be able to own their own homes, the chance to do so with support like budgeting training and getting a deposit together.

“We have approved more contracts with not-for-profit providers to develop another 183 new affordable homes across the country, including:

• 145 homes across Mangere, Papatoetoe, and Ōmokoroa, by NZ Housing Foundation
• 15 homes in Waipā, by Bridge Housing Trust
• 11 homes in Tauranga, by Doing Good Foundation
• 4 homes in Palmerston North, by Homes for People Trust
• 8 homes in Queenstown, by Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust.

“We’re also keeping up the momentum of KiwiBuild developments by ensuring the rising costs facing the construction sector are addressed through price cap changes, along with changes to income caps to keep pace with the market,” Megan Woods said.

“Another important change is allowing exemptions for price caps for larger family groups and for those with accessibility needs.

“These changes will allow developers and Kāinga Ora to deliver more KiwiBuild homes, as well as other market homes that we’ll expect to see on the ground in 2023/24,” Megan Woods said.