Bishop put the question to Woods to find out about the pitiful lack of progress. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Bishop put the question to Woods to find out about the pitiful lack of progress. Photo / Mark Mitchell
A question from a National spokesman to a Cabinet minister has revealed only $1 million of the Government’s new $1 billion-plus Infrastructure Acceleration Fund has been spent, despite it being in place for more than two years.
Chris Bishop, National’s housing spokesman, asked Housing Minister Megan Woods today about howmuch of the IAF fund’s $1.07b allocation was actually spent.
She revealed it was only $1m, but said most of it was “allocated” and would be spent, but that would take time.
In 2021, the Government announced the fund, with Woods saying then it was designed to allocate money to infrastructure projects to unlock housing development in the short to medium term and might allow around 8000 new homes to be built.
Bishop wanted to know how the scheme had gone in the last two years.
“It’s just a staggering level of incompetence from a Government, to have only $1m actually go out the door of $1b allocated. As per usual with Labour, they talk a big game but the delivery just never happens. It’s pitiful under-delivery. It makes KiwiBuild look successful,” Bishop said.
He thought far more might have been spent.
New Zealand needed new infrastructure and the Government said it was investing in that, “but they’re hopeless at getting money out the door”, Bishop said.
Woods confirmed the numbers and said in response to Bishop’s question: “Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities advises me that the current size of the infrastructure acceleration fund is $1.076b. Of the $1.076b, $1.069m has been spent to date on specific infrastructure projects.”
But a spokeswoman for Woods said today there was more to it because although it hadn’t been spent, nearly $1b had been allocated to projects.
“The reason is that funding is made available in stages as the infrastructure projects reach certain milestones, as per standard practice in large-scale funding and financing projects. It is important to ensure that conditions are being met and outcomes are being achieved along the way,” the spokeswoman said.
“To date, $926.7m in IAF funding has been allocated to critical infrastructure projects in 28 towns and cities, from the Far North to Otago. Combined, these IAF-funded projects are expected to enable around 30,000 to 35,000 new homes for New Zealanders over the next 10 to 15 years,” Woods’ spokeswoman said.
This is just the start of the journey for the IAF-funded projects, the large majority of which are in the important early planning and design stages, she said.
Housing Minister Megan Woods said much of the $1b was allocated but not spent. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Woods’ office released a table showing where the $926m of funding had been allocated.
$150m was going to central Hamilton, $98m to Hutt City Council’s RiverLink and much-needed Valley Floor housing intensification and $24m to Lake Hāwea via an application from the Queenstown Lakes District.
Two years ago, people welcomed the fund, saying it could boost growth in cities and areas under pressure.
“This is turning the paperwork and design documentation into physical assets,” NZ Living’s Shane Brealey said of the Infrastructure Acceleration Fund. He was hopeful it would enable intensification of housing because so much money was potentially available.
The Infrastructure Acceleration Fund was a component of the Government’s $3.8 billion Housing Acceleration Fund, announced in March 2021.
Woods said to qualify for the funding in the tier-one major urban environments of Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch, projects would have to consist of 200-plus homes.
Tier-two areas Rotorua, Palmerston North and Nelson would have to be 100-plus homes, and in other areas of the country, 30 new homes would need to be built to meet the new fund’s criteria.
“Not every application will be funded. We have weighted the fund to support projects that will deliver the most houses where they are most needed,” Woods said.
Councils, iwi and developers are eligible to apply and will get priority funding for brownfield intensification and greenfield expansion, she said.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 23 years, has won many awards, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
