Our intentions: Looking at the leadership of the housing and urban development system

17 November 2021: Organisations need to work together to address the complex and systemic challenges in the housing system that are contributing to negative health, education, economic, and social outcomes for New Zealanders. We're looking at how well placed Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga – Ministry of Housing and Urban Development is to provide leadership across the housing and urban development system.

The homes and communities we live in are the foundation for our well-being. New Zealand's housing and urban development system faces significant challenges including:

a decreasing number of people who own their own home;
a significant increase in the number of people waiting for public housing; and
significantly worse housing outcomes for Māori and Pacific peoples than for other New Zealanders (for example higher rates of severe housing deprivation and lower rates of home ownership).

In 2018, the Government established Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga – Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (the Ministry) to provide leadership across the housing and urban development system. The Ministry’s role involves leading, facilitating, and co-ordinating actions by other agencies and leading the implementation of the new Government Policy Statement on Housing and Urban Development (the Government Policy Statement).

What we’re focusing on

We will provide Parliament and the public with an independent view on how well placed the Ministry is to lead the housing and urban development system, now and into the future.

To do this, we will look at:

how well the Ministry is set up to carry out its leadership role, including leading the implementation of the Government Policy Statement;
how well the Ministry works with other organisations; and
how effectively the Ministry maintains oversight of the housing and urban development system.

The difference we expect to make

Our performance audit will, where necessary, recommend actions to better support the Ministry’s leadership across the housing and urban development system.

Our work is also a chance to highlight good practice that could help other organisations to understand what good system leadership looks like and requires.

We expect to complete this work in mid-2022.

Please use the feedback form on the right if you’d like to speak to a staff member about this performance audit, make a suggestion, or ask a question.