22 October 2025
Jack Jones
[FYI request #32205 email]
Dear Mr Jones
Thank you for your email dated 2 September 2025, the following part of which was
transferred to Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities (Kāinga Ora):
1. How many homes did the Crown purchase between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025
as a result of KiwiBuild underwrites being used by developers?
2. What was the cost to the Crown of purchasing those homes?
3. How many homes of those homes were on-sold before the transfer of
responsibility to HUD?
4. What was the cost to the Crown in owning those homes (I refer to ongoing costs
once the homes had been purchased)?
5. Noting that Bayleys were undertaking a marketing campaign to sell those homes,
how many were sold through that campaign?
6. I request all advice from Bayleys received by Kainga Ora in relation to the
marketing campaign to sell the homes.
7. I request a summary of any offers that were received for the sale of those homes -
noting I do not require the bidders to be identified.
8. How many FTE staff were employed by Kainga Ora working with specific
responsibility on the KiwiBuild programme up until 30 June 2025 and how many of
those staff were made redundant in the recent restructure?
9. What was the cost of any redundancy paid to those staff, if any, as outlined in 8.
above?
On 9 September 2025 questions one to five and question seven of your request were
transferred to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), under section 14 of
the Act, as HUD is responsible for administering the Residential Development Underwrite
programme, a new underwrite programme, which replaced KiwiBuild.
On 30 September 2025 we extended the timeframe to respond to questions six, eight, and
nine of your request by 20 working days under s15A(1)(b) of the Act. The answers to your
questions are below.
Question six
Nine documents were identified as being in scope of this part of your request. The
following six documents are released to you with some of the information withheld:
(1) Portfolio Information Memorandum_109 Brand New Homes v2
(2) Vendor Report WK1 - 109 Brand New Homes
(3) Vendor Report WK2 - 109 Brand New Homes
(4) Vendor Report WK3 - 109 Brand New Homes
(5) Vendor Report WK4 - 109 Brand New Homes
(6) Bayleys housing market update v0.01 CF branded.
The information is withheld under the following sections of the Act:
• s9(2)(a) -
‘…protect the privacy of natural persons, including that of deceased
natural persons…’
• s9(2)(b)(ii) –
‘…would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position
of the person who supplied or who is the subject of the information…’
• s9(2)(ba)(i) –
‘…protect information which is subject to an obligation of confidence
or which any person has been or could be compelled to provide under the
authority of any enactment, where the making available of the information…would
be likely to prejudice the supply of similar information, or information from the
same source, and it is in the public interest that such information should continue
to be supplied…’
Three additional documents have been withheld in full under s9(2)(ba)(i) section or
s9(2)(b)(i ) of the Act. These documents are:
(7) Update & next steps - Bayleys
(8) 109 Brand New Homes Portfolio_DPT Matrix_14.03.2025
(9) Revised_109 Brand New Homes Portfolio_DPT Matrix_26.03.2025
I have considered the public interest considerations in section 9(1) of the Act. I consider
that the withholding of the information from this response is not outweighed by
considerations that render it desirable in the public interest to make that information
available.
Question eight and nine
Between 1 June 2024 to 30 June 2025 there were 16 employees which equated to 10.19
Full-Time Equivalent employees, associated with the KiwiBuild programme. Following the
transfer of the KiwiBuild programme to HUD, 13 employees exited Kāinga Ora for reasons
of redundancy (including voluntary redundancy).
The sum of redundancy payments, including voluntary redundancy, made to these
13 employees referred to above was $562,130.85.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this
decision. There is information about how to make a complaint at
https://www.ombud
sman.parliament.nz or by phone on 0800 802 602.
Please note that Kāinga Ora proactively releases our responses to official information
requests where possible. Our response to your request may be published at
https:/ kaingaora.govt.nz/en_NZ/publications/oia-and-proactive-releases/responses-to-oia-
requests/ with your personal information removed.
Yours sincerely
Rachel Kelly
Manager Ministerial Services
pp.
James Kennelly
