Kāinga Ora plans to build 100 more Gisborne homes by mid-2027

Kāinga Ora homes on Gisborne's Gladstone Rd. Photo / Kāinga Ora

Kāinga Ora plans to build more than 100 additional homes in Gisborne by the middle of next year, after building more than 70 homes there last year.

Kāinga Ora’s regional director east North Island, Graeme Broderick, confirmed the plan for additional homes, saying it was in addition to the work the Crown agency was doing on thousands of homes around the country.

He said 77 new state homes were completed in Gisborne during 2025.

“Nationally, we’re extensively renovating or replacing more than half of our 78,000 homes to provide better quality homes for whānau in need,” Broderick said.

Work on new homes in Gisborne was also progressing, he said.

“This includes the final homes in the development near the corner of Mill and Gladstone Rd, which will be ready for whānau to move into next month.”

The Gisborne Herald asked Kāinga Ora where in Gisborne the 100 additional homes will be located.

“Construction is also well underway on eight homes in Stanley Road and ten in Aberdeen Road. These are being built by TW Construction, and we will purchase them when they are completed in the next few months,” Broderick said.

“Work on 12 new homes in Elgin is due to start soon.

“Most of the other homes planned for Gisborne involve replacing one or two older properties with more modern, healthy homes on the same sites. This makes better use of existing land, lifts housing quality, and helps ensure more people can live close to schools, services, and community support.”

Last year, the Gisborne Herald reported on the sale of some houses previously occupied by Kāinga Ora tenants, along with some land owned by the agency.

The agency said no homes were remaining for sale, only land.

“You can find the most up‑to‑date information about properties we’re selling that are no longer suitable for social housing on our website,“ a statement said.

“You will see that there are currently no homes for sale in Gisborne, only vacant land in Kaiti and up the East Coast.”

As of February 13, 2026, the land for sale was sites at Ūawa/Tolaga Bay: 2, 4, 6, 10 Discovery St and 1, 9 Adventure Ave.

In Gisborne, the following sites in Outer Kaiti were for sale: 5 Lawrence St, 23 Cavendish Cres and 43 Ranfurly St.

Sites at 9 Amiria Ave, Ruatōria, and 13 Makahuri Place, Wharekahika / Hicks Bay, were also on the market.

Kāinga Ora “aren’t able to provide details on how long individual properties have been on the market”.

Kāinga Ora’s financial “reset” was announced in June last year, and the land in Kaiti and Tolaga Bay has been on the market since at least July, as reported by the Gisborne Herald.

Broderick said that the sale of the properties would help Kāinga Ora to continue some of its work.

“The sale of properties is an important part of our work to significantly upgrade existing homes or replace them with new homes that better meet the needs of our tenants. Proceeds from these sales are reinvested into building new, warmer, healthier homes or upgrading existing ones,” he said.

“So far, we have sold nearly all the properties that have gone on the market. If a property didn’t sell, we would consider returning it to the public housing pool.”