Delivering new and improved state housing
Kāinga Ora is carrying out the biggest upgrade of state houses ever undertaken in New Zealand.
After a period of significantly increasing our housing stock, we’re now focussing on improving the quality of our older homes throughout the country.
We’re ensuring our homes are the right size and in the right locations for our tenants close to schools, employment and other amenities.
A focus on renovation and replacement
We’re improving the quality of our older homes by:
- Significantly renovating those that are in the right places under our retrofit programme, adding at least 50 years to their lifespan and ensuring they are warm, dry and healthy. Work can include full insulation (walls, ceiling and floor), double glazing, improved ventilation, and new heating. We may also upgrade bathrooms and kitchens and renovate the living areas so they’re modern and open plan.
- Completely removing unsuitable, ageing homes and replacing them with new modern, warm and healthy homes on the same land.
- Selling some properties and replacing them with new homes in the right locations close to the amenities that people need in their day-to-day lives.
By the numbers
Renovating or replacing
Around 2,000 older homes each year for the next few years
By 2030
Approximately 11,500 older homes renovated or replaced
By 2055
About 40,000 older homes renovated or replaced
A responsible property owner
As we improve the quality of our homes, they’ll be less costly to maintain.
- Half of our homes are at least 40 years old and many are no longer suitable for use as social housing. We also spend about 65 per cent of our entire maintenance budget on our older homes.
- By replacing older, unsuitable homes with modern, new ones, we can maintain them more easily and efficiently.
- Where our homes are already the right size and in the right locations, we’re ensuring they’re well maintained. Through our planned maintenance work, we're improving these homes by replacing roofs and painting and refreshing their exteriors.
Uma na faafou le itulau: 24 November 2025