State housing in Aotearoa New Zealand : what future after National?

Abstract

New Zealand’s National-led government (2008 to 2017) made no secret of its plans to downsize the state’s housing stock. This downsizing is being achieved through demolitions, transfers and sales. It all started quietly in 2011 when the number of state tenancies peaked at 69,700. By mid-2015 this number had diminished by almost 2,500 units and is set to fall even further with various transfers now underway.

The most notable of these transfers was on March 31st 2016 when 2800 state units in Auckland’s inner eastern suburbs were given to the Tāmaki Redevelopment Company – a public sector development agency jointly owned by the Government and Auckland Council. Further transfers of 1124 units in Tauranga and 348 units in Invercargill are underway at the time of writing, and it is expected that these will go to NGO- or iwi-based housing agencies backed by private capital interests.

These private capital interests include John Laing Infrastructure Fund, Brookfields Global Integrated Solutions, Morrison & Co, and Trust House Ltd (New Zealand Treasury, 2016). Treasury suggests that by the end of 2017 the state will own just 60,000 rental units (New Zealand Treasury, 2015). This suggests that a further 3000 units are due to be transferred or otherwise disposed of over the next 18 months, and it appears most likely that these will be in Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch (New Zealand Treasury, 2015). While the then government