In May 2022, Kāinga Ora announced that 35 projects were proceeding to the last stage of the infrastructure fund application process.
Project updates
For the Infrastrucutre Acceleration Fund
On 15 October 2021, Kāinga Ora announced that four Nelson-based projects have been selected to progress to the next stage of the IAF application process. Read the media release here.
In March 2021, the Government announced a range of measures to increase housing supply, improve housing affordability, and support first home buyers. This included a $3.8 billion Housing Acceleration Fund (HAF), part of which was an Infrastructure Acceleration Fund (IAF).
The IAF is a contestable fund that has been established to assist in covering infrastructure projects that unlock housing development in the short to medium-term and enable a meaningful contribution to housing outcomes in areas of need. It aims to increase the pace and scale of housing delivery by helping to fund critical infrastructure needed for developments.
By increasing the supply of build-ready land, the IAF will help to increase the number of homes that can be built, particularly in locations of high housing demand and with good access to public transport, jobs, education, and amenities.
In June 2021, Central Government announced that at least $1 billion of the $3.8 billion HAF was accessible through IAF applications. Criteria to access this fund have been released, and expressions of interest are now being sought.
The IAF has been opened up to councils, Iwi and developers. Funding will be prioritised for:
- Brownfield intensification and greenfield expansion with access to amenities and opportunities
- Developments where infrastructure investments might otherwise not be funded or not funded quickly enough to meet housing demand
- A spread of projects across multiple regions including large urban areas and regional centres
- Value for money through co-funding, contributions and commitments from third parties, including local councils
- A steady pipeline of construction activity
- Alignment with wider government objectives such as good urban planning, partnerships with iwi and Māori and transition to a net-zero emissions economy.
In Nelson, 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 100 additional dwellings by 2029.
The Government is 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 is administering the funding and will evaluate eligible proposals against set criteria. These criteria are summarised below:
- (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?
Expressions of Interest can now be submitted to Kāinga Ora through Tenderlink.
Documents can be found in the document library on this page.
Although the process is open to any party, Kāinga Ora have indicated a preference for submissions to involve the local council (as regulator and infrastructure provider).
Nelson City Council (NCC) is looking for expressions of interest, that we are willing to lend our support to, from Iwi, developers and landowners who are looking at making a submission to the fund. Whilst it is unlikely that NCC will be able to support all proposals submitted for consideration, we would like to hear from you.
As a result of the tight turnaround, we are asking for initial registrations of interest (see form on this page). Following this, more detail will need to be provided in the form of a proposal or copy of the EOI form, to be submitted to NCC no later than 5:00 pm 16 July 2021.
Applicants will be contacted before the end of July to confirm if their proposals will be presented to Council.
It is our intention to take selected proposals to our 12 August Council meeting, where Council will review and endorse submissions they consider to be suitable.
