The Kainga Ora turnaround

The change to Kainga Ora in the last two years has been massive. Chris Bishop has a long list of changes. Here are some of the bigger ones:

• Kāinga Ora’s 2023 Board-approved budget showed debt forecast to grow to $24.8 billion by 2026/27. That’s about 20 Transmission Gullies or 12 New Dunedin Hospitals.
• The social housing waitlist grew from around 7,000 to over 26,000 applicants at its peak in 2022.
• “In 2024/25, Kāinga Ora had an operating savings target of $41 million compared to the previous Financial Year, but with hard work and strong cost controls, they exceeded this target and delivered $211 million in operating cost reductions,”
• “Before the Turnaround Plan, Kāinga Ora’s peak debt was forecast to be $29 billion in 2032/33, the Plan brought this down to $21.3 billion, and now – a year into the Plan – debt is expected to peak earlier in 2029/30 at $19.5 billion. That’s a total reduction in peak debt of $9.5 billion, so far.
• “In 2024/25, Kāinga Ora delivered a total of 3,456 new homes and 874 upgraded homes. The agency also added 2,564 net new homes to its housing stock, exceeding its target of 2,230.”
• “In 2022/23, Kāinga Ora’s average build cost per square metre was $3,433. Kāinga Ora’s build costs were 12 per cent higher than the private sector. 
• Kāinga Ora’s build costs are now trending down, with build cost per square metre averaging $3,290 in the first quarter of 2025/26. The agency is also on track to meet its $2,980 per square metre target by June 2026.”
• “In 2022/23, around 80 per cent of tenants were satisfied with their homes and 70 percent felt safe in their homes and communities. Now, 87 per cent of tenants are satisfied and 90 per cent feel safe.
• “More whanau are also making use of Kāinga Ora homes as vacancy rates have dropped from 5% in late 2023 to 2% in December 2025.
• “In June 2024, around 8,600 tenants were in rent arrears. As of December, only 5,500 tenants were in arrears – a drop of around 3,000.
• In 2023/24, 12 tenancies ended due to disruptive behaviour, and in 2024/25 75 ended.
• At the end of 2023, it took Kāinga Ora 72 days on average to resolve a disruptive behaviour compliant .As of December 2025, it now only takes 10 days on average,”

So less debt, a drop in the waitlist, lower build costs, higher tenant satisfaction, fewer vacant homes, less rent arrears and fewer disruptive tenants. Now a bad job.

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