[IN-CONFIDENCE - RELEASE EXTERNAL]
26/11/2025
Phillip Hart
[FYI request #32028 email]
Tēnā koe Phillip Hart
OIA: GEMS-45815 – Cost of new classrooms
Thank you for your email of 17 August 2025 to the Minister of Education, Hon Erica Stanford,
which was transferred to Ministry of Education (the Ministry) on 25 August 2025, requesting the
following information:
When an entire 3 bedroom house can be built for less than $400,000 (excluding land) could
you please advise how that using a "combination of cost-effective repeatable designs and
offsite manufactured buildings" resulting in an average cost of $875,000 per classroom is
delivering value for the taxpayer?
Your request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act).
We apologise for providing this response outside the statutory timeframe due to an administrative
error in the logging process. The Ministry is committed to meeting its obligations under the Act, and
accepts that, in this instance, these obligations were not met.
I note that your request was initially acknowledged as being made under the the Act. For the Act to
apply, the information requested must be held by the agency concerned, as set out in
section 2(1) of the Act. The Act does not apply to requests that require an agency to form an
opinion or create new information in order to respond. However, in the interests of transparency,
we are providing a narrative response to your questions below.
The Government has directed the Ministry to prioritise simple Offsite Manufactured Buildings
(OMBs) and repeatable designs that are faster and more cost-effective to deliver compared to
bespoke solutions. OMBs and standardisation initiatives have significantly reduced costs, with
average teaching space costs per classroom decreasing from about $1.2 mil ion in 2023 to
956,300 for the financial year of 2024/25, and the average teaching space cost per classroom for
the first financial quarter of 2025/26 being $737,478. Over half of classrooms delivered in this
quarter were OMBs.
You can find information regarding the School Property Office’s Value-for-Money Review in the
document
Briefing Note – School Property Value for Money – Review Outcomes on the Ministry’s
website here
: https://web-assets.education.govt.nz/s3fs-public/2024-10/1331038-School-Property-
Value-for-Money-Review-Outcomes_0.pdf?VersionId=kp.wMxSdZn9n0eZFsi57oca3bOgnLTJT.
Wellington National Office, 1 The Terrace, Levels 5 to 14, Wellington 6011
PO Box 1666, Wellington 6140, DX SR51201 Phone: +64 4 463 8000
[IN-CONFIDENCE - RELEASE EXTERNAL]
[IN-CONFIDENCE - RELEASE EXTERNAL]
We have also received previous requests on this topic that may also address your concerns. I refer
you to
Official Information Act Request 1352736 Response on the Ministry’s website
: https://web-
assets.education.govt.nz/s3fs-public/2025-11/OIA%201352736%20-
%20response_Redacted.pdf?VersionId=uO4jODLHfgWocv.hJFoilTloHSz3l__C.
Thank you again for your email. You have the right to ask an Ombudsman to review my decision
on your request, in accordance with section 28 of the Act. You can do this by writing to
[email address] or to Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143.
Please note, we may publish this response on our website after five working days. Your name and
contact details wil be removed.
Nāku noa, nā
Jerome Sheppard
Chief Executive
School Property
OIA: GEMS-45815
[IN-CONFIDENCE - RELEASE EXTERNAL]
