Housing developments throughout the country are one step closer to fruition this week, as more than 80 proposed developments from councils, iwi and developers go through to the next stage of the Government’s Infrastructure Acceleration Fund (IAF).

The IAF, a contestable fund of at least $1bn, is designed to allocate funding for key infrastructure, enabling housing development in the short to medium term. The administrator of the fund, Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities, recently concluded its initial evaluation of applications with results communicated to applicants on Friday 15 October.

Successful councils, iwi and developers are now invited to submit a more detailed response to an RFP invitation before the end of the year.

Kāinga Ora General Manager Commercial Group, Caroline McDowall says the proposals going through to this next round represent a range of important housing outcomes for the country.

“There is a great need for housing in Aotearoa and funding for infrastructure is key to enabling housing development,” she says.

“The IAF is designed to ultimately enable meaningful contribution to housing outcomes in areas of need. The proposals put forward to the next stage in the process are set to do this through a range of both large-scale and smaller developments, with the majority estimating delivery of housing within the next five years if they receive funding.”

Led by Kāinga Ora and with input from other Government agencies, the initial IAF evaluation process assessed all applications against key criteria set by Cabinet. Proposals were assessed for capability and readiness, taking into consideration cost effectiveness and the contribution of applicants.

“With over 200 applications totalling more than $5 billion of funding requested from the IAF, this two-phased approach to evaluation ensures applicants focus time and resources on proposals with the best prospect of success in the competitive process,” says Caroline McDowall.

“Unfortunately the great demand for this funding also means there will be a few disappointed applicants now that the first stage of evaluation is complete. The IAF has a set amount available to invest in infrastructure projects and therefore not all proposals can succeed.”

Once final RFP responses are received, Kāinga Ora will undertake due diligence to further assess the proposals.

The IAF evaluation process also identified key proposals with potential to be accelerated through the next stage.

“While we will still be undertaking careful due diligence, the hope is that we can fast-track some proposals, to jump-start some of the much needed housing developments as soon as possible,” says Caroline McDowall.

“We hope to have some good news on these in the coming months – watch this space.”

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