Kāinga Ora writes off almost $7.4m in rent arrears in just six months

Wednesday, 3 June 2026

High density social housing by Kainga Ora on Borman Rd, Hamilton.

State housing agency Kāinga Ora forgave almost $7.4 million in rent arrears over a six month period last year, data obtained by the Waikato Times reveals.

Thanks to an Official Information Act request, the Times can reveal in total the agency forgave $7,399,848 in total rent arrears nationwide.

Wellington topped the regional breakdown for the largest amount of forgiven debt at just under $2.5m - $2,460,871, followed by Waikato - $905,206 - and Auckland - $899,409.

Wellington saw the most Kainga Ora rent arrears forgiven at just under $2.5m.

The smallest amount of forgiven debt was in Southland at $8523.

The Waikato Times took a dive into the forgiveness finances in the wake of revealing the state housing agency is owed more than $4m in rent arrears, and one tenant owes almost $25,000 in unpaid rent.

The coalition Government said they aimed to take a tougher stance on rent arrears and anti-social behaviour from state house tenants, with the agency saying they were “drawing a line on how patient we can be”.

Kāinga Ora has ‘has taken a pragmatic approach’, Associate Minister of Housing Tama Potaka said.

“We are taking a firm approach with the small number of tenants who are not meeting their obligations to reduce their rent debt, are skipping rent payments or refusing to work with us,” the agency said.

“If this happens, we will take steps to end the tenancy.

“Our approach seeks to ensure that tenants will not have accumulated more than 12 weeks’ worth of rent debt when their tenancy is ended to prevent large debts in the future.

“This means we will begin the process of ending a tenancy earlier than in the past.”

The agency also said the forgiveness was a “one-off initiative with a clear purpose”.

“At the start of 2025, we helped some tenants who owed a significant amount of rent debt to get on top of it faster by reducing the amount owed to a level that was more realistic for them to repay in full,” a spokesperson said.

“This support was only offered to tenants who had 12 weeks’ worth of rent debt and were consistently paying their rent and making reasonable payments to reduce their debt.

“In return, tenants were expected to continue reducing what they owe and paying their rent on time and in full. If that did not happen, we took take steps to end their tenancy.

Kāinga Ora forgave $7,399,848 in total rent arrears nationwide.

“Through this approach, we have forgiven $7.4 million in rent debt for tenants who met these commitments. Around 1,600 tenants have been able to bring their rent debt down to just 12 weeks.“

Kāinga Ora Minister Chris Bishop’s office directed the Waikato Times requests for comment to Associate Minister of Housing Tama Potaka. He said the agency “has taken a pragmatic approach by writing off historic debt that was unlikely to ever be recovered, while strengthening its focus on collecting current rent and addressing arrears”.

“Our Government has been clear that tenants have responsibilities alongside the support they receive, and Kāinga Ora is now making greater use of the tools available to manage arrears and disruptive behaviour,” he said.

“Our focus is on recovering debts where recovery is realistic, while ensuring resources are directed where they can have the greatest impact.”

Labour Kāinga Ora spokesperson Kieran McAnulty declined to say whether he supported the debt forgiveness, telling the Waikato Times instead “people should pay the debt they owe but it should be a conversation with Kāinga Ora and tenants’ circumstances vary”.

Across the remaining regions in the data, Kāinga Ora forgave $841,511 across Hawke’s Bay, $564,235 in Gisborne, $468,717 in Canterbury, $300,118 in Manawatū-Whanganui, $252,964 in Northland, $183,543 in Taranaki, $114,512 in Bay of Plenty, $112,107 in Otago, $101,661 in Nelson, $75,041 in Marlborough, $60,073 in the West Coast and $51,357 across Tasman.