Kāinga Ora ditches target to make more public homes accessible
Saturday, 9 May 2026
Kāinga Ora is building fewer accessible homes than it did last year after scrapping its target to have 15% of new public housing builds be accessible.
The removal of the target has sparked criticism from a disability advocate, who says it will deepen existing barriers for people with disabilities, who already face longer waits on the housing register and risk being removed if homes do not meet their needs.
Housing Minister Chris Bishop said Kāinga Ora dropped its target for at least 15% of homes to meet full universal design standards as it shifted to prioritising financial sustainability and value for money during its turnaround plan in February 2025.
Universal design standards ensure buildings are accessible to people who use wheelchairs or other mobility aids, people with impaired vision and people who are elderly or very young.
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Following the launch of its accessibility policy in 2019, Kāinga ora has built 1464 homes to its Full Universal Design standard ‒ falling short of its target with just 11% of all new Kāinga Ora builds.
In the 2022 to 2023 financial year, it built just 23 homes to the Full Universal Design standard.
This financial year, it has planned for 97 homes to met the standards, compared with 562 the previous year.
CCS Disability Action’s northern region general manager Bettina Syme said removing accountability risked sidelining the issue entirely.
“[Removing the target] doesn't change the need, it just removes the only measurable accountability mechanism for accessible social housing in New Zealand.”
Tenants with disabilities were waiting longer than other people for housing. Data from the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) showed applicants on the housing register for modified housing waited an average of 410 days in 2025, compared with 371 days for those seeking non-modified housing.
That disparity grew on the transfer register, with the average time spent waiting for modified housing 1115 days, just over three years, compared with 417 days for non-modified housing.
She said she had heard consistently from staff that people who turned down a home that was not accessible risked being removed from the housing register all together.
She said it was considerably cheaper to build universal design features into a new home than to retrofit the same house later.
BRANZ research showed upfront costs for universal design features were nearly 10 times lower than retrofitting later.
Disability advocate Nick Ruane said the Government had walked away from a “bare minimum” target, and the result of that decision would be thousands of people left living in homes that did not meet their needs, “all to save a few dollars”.
Kāinga Ora Chief Financial Officer Liz O’Neil said while Kāinga Ora no longer had a target, it continued to deliver accessible homes when the location, typology and build costs allow.
She said practical universal design features were included in all new builds where simple and cost-effective to do so ‒ such as lever-style handles, safer stairs, wider doorways and corridors, and accessible switch and power point placement.
Where possible, it delivered homes with the main bedroom and a bathroom on the same level as living areas.
Kāinga Ora also provided modifications such as grab rails and accessible shower fittings, and worked with MSD and ACC to deliver modifications like ramps, wet area bathrooms, widened doorways and lifts.
Bishop said the removal of the target did not mean the needs of people with disabilities, older New Zealanders or families was being ignored.
Kāinga Ora would continue delivering Full Universal Design homes where site, location, typology, and cost allow.
He said more than 16,000 of Kāinga Ora homes have had a modification of some description to make them more accessible for the specific needs of the tenant.
Individual tenants’ accessibility needs often required bespoke modifications ‒ for example, a wheelchair user may need different accessible features in their home compared with someone who has a visual impairment, he said.
Kāinga Ora was only part of the picture, he said, with about 15% of the social homes delivered by community housing providers (CHPs) identified as accessible.
Green MP Tamatha Paul said accessible housing was a consistent issue she was approached about as an MP.
“Right now, I’m helping someone in my electorate who uses a wheelchair [find] a suitable home but we are having no luck whatsoever in both public and private housing,” she said.
“It is degrading and humiliating for people to have to live in these conditions. Disabled people deserve freedom and independence to move around their own homes.”
Only 2% of housing in New Zealand is accessible and she said Kāinga Ora needed to build accessible housing because the private market had proventhat it won’t.
The Green Party is campaigning on full-accessible public housing.