A big drawcard is likely to be a grant available through the Government's Social Housing Unit, which paid for up to half the capital costs for a project building new housing stock on Maori land.
Mr Wixon said the funding criteria included having the housing development "fully scoped" to the point where all consent and land court issues were resolved, and the planning was completed to an advanced stage.
"Why is that worth it? The funding can be up to 50 per cent of capital costs. That's a lot, especially if you are talking about a land block that may not be close to infrastructure such as power, road access, sewerage and water because those costs to connect are significant," he said.
"This would reduce that barrier with up to 50 per cent of those costs covered."
Successful applicants would have to begin building within a year of achieving the grant.
Mr Wixon was the developer of the Papakainga Development Guide, released in 2008, which guides people through the process to show how housing can be developed on Maori land.
Only a few had taken up the opportunity for papakainga development, possibly because of the complicated laws and regulations people needed to come to terms with in order to realise their housing projects, he said.
The joint action group, funded with help from Mr Wixon and Ms Jones until March, would help people through legal hoops and show what support was available to secure capital funding.
"We are looking for whanau trusts and entities that have a genuine interest and commitment to build three-plus houses, because that's the number we need to make sharing of infrastructure more cost-effective.
"You have to be a legal entity and be able to show how you can raise sufficient equity."
Mr Wixon said the multiple ownership of Maori land provided another barrier when it came to applying for capital funding.
"There has been a history of not being able to do anything with Maori land because it was under multiple ownership and didn't attract any equity.
"For the purpose of funding, the land can now be valued as if it were in general title."
Maori land
Maori land title in the Takitimu Maori Land Court district, Wairarapa to Wairoa, included 88,000ha, which was 6 per cent of all the land in that area.
There were 1350 Maori land blocks and about half had management structures in place. The rest, representing about 15,000ha, did not.
Of those with management structures, they ranged from fully functional and effective through to inactive or ineffective.
Fragmentation was also a major issue as a number of small blocks were unproductive. Landlocked land was also a barrier.
Collective use of these blocks increases the ability for them to be productive, but they needed improved access to water and roads.
Demand for land for primary production was generally high in Hawke's Bay, with Maori land leased to horticultural and agricultural contractors.
More younger owners and trustees, however, are looking to use that land for joint ventures and other ways of taking greater control of how their land is used.
