Reshaping the System
Creating a fairer housing future through bold reform and policy change
Policy recommendations from CHA
Paul Gilberd is Chief Executive of Community Housing Aotearoa. He leads CHA's advocacy for affordable and social housing whilst championing the organisation's vision that every New Zealander deserves a warm, safe, dry and affordable home as a basic human right.
Central government has a critical role to play enabling the growth and the delivery of the supply of long-term, affordable, accessible housing and tenure choice for individuals, whānau and communities across the country. Longer-term, more consistent policy and funding settings deliver far more efficient affordable housing outcomes.
New Zealand's community housing sector needs decisive action to address the structural barriers preventing affordable housing development. The following recommendations provide a roadmap for transforming our housing finance system and creating genuine housing affordability for New Zealanders.
Immediate financial infrastructure reform
Enhance the efficiency of the community housing funding
Government can reduce the cost of finance by providing guarantees for housing bonds and loans, thereby lowering the subsidy required.
Commit to longer-term investment
Providers can better plan and invest in new supply with certainty. And provide investment across the housing continuum enabling delivery of mixed-income and mixed-tenure communities.
Establish investment pathways
Create government-backed housing bonds that KiwiSaver and other retirement funds can purchase, providing patient capital for affordable housing development whilst also generating returns for New Zealand savers.
Treat housing as essential social infrastructure
If government planned for and financed housing in the way it does other infrastructure, our housing system would perform better.
Issue multi-decade demand contracts
Government should provide volume and price certainty through long-term commissioning contracts, following successful Nordic and Australian models. These contracts span multiple electoral cycles, to enable providers to secure financing, plan and deliver on development pipelines.
Court patient infrastructure capital
Actively engage infrastructure funds and institutional investors in build-to-rent developments on 100-year investment horizons. Government should provide the policy certainty and risk mitigation these investors require.
Implement inclusionary housing and zoning
Implement national inclusionary zoning legislation
Pass comprehensive legislation requiring every residential rezoning and greenfield subdivision to deliver serviced, perpetually affordable lots or cash-in-lieu payments. This will create a continuous supply of affordable sites and establish revolving capital funds for community housing development.
Protect local government from litigation risk
National legislation will create a standardised process and protect councils from legal challenges when implementing inclusionary zoning requirements, removing a key barrier to local adoption of these policies.
Utilise value capture
Value capture will enable councils to reclaim a share of land value increases from public investment and reinvest it into public goods like affordable housing.
Grow home ownership models
Scale progressive home ownership programmes
Recapitalise and expand progressive home ownership initiatives, enabling buyers to enter the market with 5% deposits whilst maintaining wraparound financial literacy support.
Replicate successful models nationwide
Roll out Queenstown's 100-year 'Secure Home' leasehold model and other proven shared equity approaches. Ensure mainstream mortgage treatment for these alternative ownership structures.
Standardise legal frameworks
Develop template legislation and standard agreements for limited-equity cooperatives, co-housing, and affordable rentals to reduce transaction costs and enable scaling.
Reform tax settings for housing equity
Introduce strategic tax measures
Implement capital gains tax on investment properties (with primary home exemptions) and explore wealth taxes or stamp duties specifically ring-fenced for affordable housing programmes.
Redirect existing subsidies
Gradually shift spending from the Accommodation Supplement toward capital grants and value-capture funds that build lasting affordable housing assets, rather than subsidising private landlord profits.
Enable build-to-rent affordability
Use incentives effectively
Encourage the inclusion of affordable homes in build-to-rent developments by applying a range of incentives. These may include fast-track permitting, reduced development contributions and rates, access to land, and tax or financial subsidies.
Combine incentives with requirements
Strengthen inclusionary housing outcomes by pairing mandatory affordable housing requirements with supportive incentives. This combination often results in higher levels of affordability and greater developer participation.
Modernise planning and resource management
Standardise enabling frameworks
Implement consistent planning rules that support density and tenure diversity whilst restricting discriminatory covenants against affordable housing models.
Invest in infrastructure growth
Provide councils with dedicated funding tools for essential infrastructure, enabling housing-ready land supply in high-demand areas.
Target idle land
Introduce targeted rates on serviced but undeveloped land to incentivise productive use and discourage speculation.
Empower local government
Expand council financing tools
Provide local authorities with new funding mechanisms for pipes, roads, and housing-enabling infrastructure, reducing their reliance on rates and development contributions.
Streamline consent processes
Implement fast-track consenting for affordable housing developments and standardise approval processes across jurisdictions.
Leverage public land holdings
Enable councils to utilise their land assets through long-term leasehold arrangements, joint ventures, and land banking for affordable housing.
Advance Māori housing aspirations
Expand targeted programmes
Significantly increase funding for Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga and ensure infrastructure investment on Māori land supports housing development.
Reform finance rules
Address regulatory barriers that penalise multiply-owned whenua and prevent Māori land from being used as security for housing development.
Uphold MAIHI Kā Ora commitments
Ensure full implementation of the Māori and Iwi Housing Innovation Framework with adequate resourcing and genuine partnership.
Build sector capability and scale
Provide standardised tools
Develop template documents, shared development pipelines, and sector-wide training programmes to reduce transaction costs and build provider capability.
Incentivise strategic consolidation
Support provider amalgamations and partnerships that achieve the balance sheet scale necessary for large-scale development whilst maintaining community connection.
Democratise access to opportunities
Ensure smaller and medium-sized providers can access the same financing and development opportunities as larger strategic partners.
Guarantee long-term policy stability
Establish cross-party housing strategy
Commit to a bipartisan, 10-year housing strategy that provides certainty for banks, builders, and community housing providers, eliminating election-cycle policy whiplash.
Create legislative protection
Embed key policy settings in legislation that requires broad parliamentary support to change, providing investors and developers with confidence in long-term policy direction.
Implementation imperative
These recommendations represent proven solutions already operating successfully in jurisdictions worldwide. New Zealand has the policy tools, sector expertise, and financial capacity to deliver affordable homes for all New Zealanders. What's required now is political will and coordinated implementation across all levels of government, the community and private sectors.
The cost of inaction — continuing housing stress, homelessness, and economic distortion — far exceeds the investment required for transformation. The time for incremental change has passed. New Zealand needs bold, comprehensive reform that matches the scale of its housing challenge.
