Hon Chris Bishop
Minister of Housing

Housing Minister Chris Bishop has congratulated Community Housing Funding Agency (CHFA) following their launch of $200 million of A+ rated bonds.

“This means $200 million in cheaper lending is now available for Community Housing Providers (CHPs). It will help them deliver more social homes as well as more affordable homes, at lower cost,” Mr Bishop says.

“I congratulate CHFA on leading this innovation, and for being the first domestic issuer of social bonds in New Zealand. I look forward to seeing all the great outcomes this unlocks for families and communities across New Zealand.

“These social bonds were well received by the market demonstrating the level of confidence that investors have in supporting social and affordable housing in New Zealand.

“The Government has funded CHPs to deliver more than 2,000 social homes from 1 July this year and is helping them unlock lower borrowing costs by backing CHFA through a $150 million lending facility. This means CHPs will be able to deliver more social homes for less.

“We are also working on further initiatives that will make it easier for CHPs to access financing for social housing. These initiatives will reduce borrowing costs, enabling CHPs to deliver more homes for less and reinvest savings into social programmes. I’ll have more to say soon.

“CHFA’s bond launch today is an important step towards levelling the playing field between Kāinga Ora and CHPs – and ultimately delivering more homes for Kiwis who need them.”

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