Infrastructure Acceleration Fund

The Infrastructure Acceleration Fund (IAF) is a key component of the Government’s $3.8 billion Housing Acceleration Fund announced in March 2021. The contestable fund of at least $1 billion was launched on 30 June 2021 with an invitation for expressions of interest from councils, iwi and developers.

The IAF will enable housing development in areas of need throughout Aotearoa New Zealand through the allocation of funds to new and upgraded eligible “enabling” infrastructure such as transport, three waters and flood management infrastructure.

Who is eligible to apply?

Please note that applications to the IAF have now closed. Territorial authorities, iwi and developers were eligible to apply – with a strong focus on collaboration between all parties.

What type of infrastructure projects?

To be eligible, infrastructure projects must be:

• new or upgraded infrastructure for:
  • transport (including local roading, state highways, public transport infrastructure, footpaths, and cycleways),
  • three waters (water supply, wastewater, and stormwater)
  • flood-management infrastructure.
• Wholly or primarily for the purpose of building new or additional houses in the short to medium term; and which are expected to add:
  • 200 additional dwellings in tier one urban environments (under the National Policy Statement on Urban Development(external link)).
  • 100 additional dwellings in tier two urban environments.
  • 30 additional dwellings elsewhere.

What is the process?

The IAF is a competitive two-stage process:

• In stage one, all applicants were invited to provide an expression of interest (EOI) with high-level information on the housing development and the eligible infrastructure projects enabling the housing (Proposal).
• In stage two, a number of applicants were invited to submit a full proposal in response to a Request for Proposal (RFP).

Following evaluation of the response to RFP, a number of proposals will be selected to go through to the final stage where further due diligence and negotiation is undertaken.

Indicative timeframes are summarised in the table below:

*Kāinga Ora may, at its discretion, also select a limited number of Proposals to be fast tracked through the RFP Stage, Negotiation and final funding decision by Ministers.

Evaluation Criteria

We are looking for Proposals that are sufficiently advanced to provide enough certainty on housing outcomes, whilst not being so advanced such that IAF funding is not critical. Developers and landowners are expected to pay their fair share and Council’s contributions are not to be displaced.

Kāinga Ora will evaluate proposals against the evaluation criteria. They are summarised as follows:

(i) Housing outcomes (40%): how will the Proposal, if delivered, contribute to the housing outcomes that are the purpose of the Infrastructure Fund?

(ii) Impact of funding (20%): how critical is this funding to advancing the infrastructure and housing development?

(iii) Cost and co-funding (20%): how cost effective is the Proposal and is everyone paying their fair share?

(iv) Capability and readiness (20%): if funding is approved, how certain is it that the project will advance, and at what pace?

Latest information

More than 200 applications were received in the initial expressions of interest period, with over $5 billion requested from the IAF. Following a robust evaluation process, successful councils, iwi and developers of more than 80 proposals were invited to submit a response to a Request for Proposal by December 2021.

The first IAF agreement for a fast-tracked project was recently signed between Kāinga Ora, Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira and Porirua City Council. This $6.1m agreement will enable over 400 additional homes for a development at Kenepuru Landing in Porirua.

Thirty-five further proposals are now through to the final stage of the IAF process where further due diligence will be undertaken and both funding and housing outcome agreements will be negotiated before funding can be confirmed.

Read more in the latest media releases:

• Thousands of new homes possible for eleven regions through infrastructure investment
• Infrastructure funding paves the way for new communities
• Over 8,000 new homes possible as $179m of infrastructure fund committed
• Thirty-five housing developments in last stage of infrastructure fund
• First agreement for infrastructure fund enables additional iwi housing in Porirua.

Where can I get further information?

For any information, please email the IAF Project Team on IAF@kaingaora.govt.nz.

For background information, including Cabinet papers see the Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga – Ministry of Housing and Urban Development(external link) website.