Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga is a commitment of $730 million over four years to accelerate Māori-led housing solutions.   Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga is delivered jointly by Te Puni Kōkiri and Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga (Ministry for Housing and Urban Development, HUD)

• $138.6m comes to Vote Māori Development for additional papakāinga and small scale housing, alongside additional whare repairs.
• $241.4m will be administered via HUD and includes Māori housing sector capability funding, and funding for larger scale Māori housings projects
• This investment will be complimented by $350m invested into infrastructure to support Māori and iwi providers to build homes for whānau Māori (administered by HUD)

In order to secure the greatest impact from Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga investment, locations that are facing the significant housing supply and affordability issues will be prioritised, while also ensuring that there is an ability for quality investment ready projects from anywhere in Aotearoa to receive funding. 

What type of projects are eligible for investment?

Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga can provide investment for: 

• Increasing organisational capability and capacity to deliver Māori-led housing solutions. 
• Repairs for whānau Māori homes to improve housing quality in the immediate term.
• Housing projects that increase the supply of housing provided by Māori, including new homes on papakāinga.
• Delivery of new or upgraded infrastructure to increase the supply of build ready land, specifically
  • enabling infrastructure in the form of transport (including local roading, state highways, public transport infrastructure, footpaths and cycleways), three waters (water supply, wastewater and stormwater) and flood-management infrastructure; and
  • onsite infrastructure (i.e. non-enabling infrastructure), including site remediation, onsite civils and foundations, onsite three waters including septic tanks and transmission and telecommunications infrastructure where the costs won’t be met by utility companies for example rural sites where utility companies provide infrastructure only within 100m of trunk infrastructure.

The project or part of the project for which the Applicant is seeking investment cannot exclusively be for commercial purposes.  

Investment is limited and progression to funding is not guaranteed.  Proposals that can be delivered in the immediate term (i.e, before 30 June 2023) and align with the investment criteria will be prioritised.

What is the process? 

Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga has two pathways for allocating investment. 

The Project Pathway expands existing Māori housing programmes to address immediate housing need. The Project Pathway will see investments into discrete repairs, infrastructure, housing and capability projects across Aotearoa, with a focus on deliverability and readiness of delivery partners.  

The Programme Pathway will focus on iwi-led regional housing delivery to enable new delivery models and partnerships that sustainably increase Māori-led housing delivery in the medium to long-term.

Agencies are already working with three iwi delivery partners identified by the National Iwi Chairs Forum (NICF) to develop investment proposals for the Programme Pathway from 2022:

• Ka Uruora Aotearoa Trustee Limited
• Toitū Tairāwhiti Housing Limited
• Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated

NCIF have endorsed a fourth prototype to be submitted from Tai Tokerau iwi in 2022.

Investment Criteria 

We are looking to invest in projects that are sufficiently advanced to provide enough certainty on housing outcomes, whilst not being so advanced such that Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga investment is not critical. Māori entities will need to contribute alongside Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga investment and investment shouldn’t displace other investment i.e. private or local council investment.  

All investment into infrastructure or housing supply projects will be evaluated against the following summarised criteria: 

1. Housing benefits of the proposal (30%) -Proposals need to show how they contribute to the housing outcomes that are the purpose of Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga and the Māori Infrastructure Fund
2. Supports long-term sustainable Māori led housing delivery (35%) -Proposal enables Māori led delivery of new housing across placed based areas / rohe
3. Cost and co-funding (20%) - Proposal represents a cost-effective solution for the Government
4. Capability and Immediacy (15%) - Proposal provides assurance that if funding is approved, the project will advance at pace

How much investment can I receive to build new homes? 

Project pathway investment in most cases will be grant payments to deliver agreed housing outcomes. In some cases, repayable loans will be available. Total investment per project will be tailored to the needs of the project.  

Alongside the grant, rōpū Māori will need to contribute financially to the cost of construction of new homes, at least 25%. 

Key considerations for investment allocation will be: 

• Performance against the investment criteria - Does the project align with Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga objectives? 
• Timing of housing delivery - Does the investment deliver as many near term housing outcomes as possible? 
• Capacity of the fund - If the amount of Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga investment requested in a project is granted, is there sufficient capacity remaining in Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga to support the desired range of Proposals? 
• Regional spread of investment - Does the investment package as whole represent investment across multiple regions, particularly the focus regions.

How do I apply? 

There are several existing Māori housing programmes supported by Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga investment. Each programme is tailored for specific types of housing support. 

You can get in touch at any time to discuss your housing aspirations.

• For information on investing in small scale papakāinga and repairs to homes owned and occupied by low income whānau Māori, contact your nearest Te Puni Kōkiri regional office, or click here to register a housing enquiry with a regional office near you.
• For all inquiries or information on support for housing or infrastructure developments and capability building for Māori groups and iwi, please contact WKWO@hud.govt.nz.

Proposals that can deliver new houses in the immediate term (ie, before 30 June 2023) and align with the investment criteria will be prioritised.

For more information refer to the “What funding is available and what has been delivered” page.

Where can I get further information? 

For information on how Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga can support the development of small scale papakāinga and repairs to homes owned and occupied by low income whānau Māori, contact your nearest Te Puni Kōkiri regional office or click here to register a housing enquiry with a regional office near you.

For any other information, please email the Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga Project Team on WKWO@HUD.govt.nz.