Heiko Jonkers: Shared equity
Rethinking banking's role in housing: Heiko Jonkers on sustainable finance and building equity through partnerships
This episode features Heiko Jonkers, a senior leader at Westpac New Zealand, who brings extensive banking expertise to conversations about sustainable finance and housing affordability. Heiko plays a pivotal role in developing the bank's strategy around community engagement and social outcomes, offering a systems-oriented perspective on New Zealand's most pressing challenges. The interview explores how financial institutions can actively enable affordable housing delivery rather than simply responding to market demands.
Heiko discusses the evolving landscape of public-private partnerships and examines how banking practices and lending policies can be recalibrated to support community housing providers and first-home buyers. The conversation addresses the structural role finance plays in either perpetuating or alleviating housing inequality, whilst identifying practical pathways for banks to contribute meaningfully to building a more equitable future where housing is accessible across all income levels.
