The government’s recent NZ$69 million investment in the contestable Flexible Fund, the main funding source for iwi and community housing providers, prioritises social housing and affordable rentals.

While the investment is welcome, the policy risks overlooking another role these organisations can play: helping working renters move towards home ownership.

These households sit in the difficult middle of the housing system. They earn too much for social housing, but are unable to save a deposit or buy on the open market.

Many face high rents, insecure tenancies and repeated moves when landlords sell. Recent research found a quarter of private renters spend more than a 40% of their disposable income on rent.

A growing number of community housing providers now deliver affordable home ownership models, including shared ownership, rent-to-buy and community land trust arrangements.

These schemes increase tenure security and reduce housing costs, allowing some households to achieve home ownership that would otherwise be impossible and helping others reach that goal sooner.

Previously, the $400 million Progressive Home Ownership Fund helped expand these models by offering interest-free loans to approved providers delivering rent-to-buy, shared ownership and leasehold schemes. But the fund was closed mid-2024 and is no longer accepting new applications.

Since then, policy has shifted towards increasing open market housing supply through the government’s Going for Housing Growth programme.

If affordable ownership is left out of the Flexible Fund, the government may miss one of the few........

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