38059 (2025). Hon Kieran McAnulty to the Minister of Housing

38059 (2025). Hon Kieran McAnulty to the Minister of Housing: How much funding, if any, has been cut from the budgets of Kāinga Ora’s Large Scale Projects since the formation of this Government and to where were any such funds reallocated?

Hon Chris Bishop: Corrected reply: Since this Government was formed, $360 million in capital funding and $200 million in operating funding have been reprioritised from Kāinga Ora’s Large Scale Projects programme. In Budget 2025, $125 million in capital funding was reprioritised from the programme. Of this, $100 million was allocated to establish a Flexible Fund for new social and affordable housing investments, and to provide additional support for the Early-Stage Operating Supplement for Community Housing Providers. The remaining $25 million was directed to scale up the Infrastructure and Finance Act Greenfields Model within Vote Finance. Budget 2024 saw $235 million in capital funding and $200 million in operating funding reprioritised due to increased funding from Auckland Council, associated contingency costs and programme changes and efficiencies. Some of these funds were redirected to boost core services in Vote Housing and Urban Development, including supporting an additional 1,500 social housing places delivered by Community Housing Providers. Funding also ensured Kāinga Ora could continue its statutory obligations outside public housing and covered technical accounting for infrastructure asset transfers. The rest contributed to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development’s baseline savings target. It's important to note Budget 2022 included internal reforecast movements driven by cost escalations and delays in neighbourhood delivery. This also caused later stages of several neighbourhoods to be deferred.