Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman (left) and Sir Bill English. Composite Photo / Jason Oxenham
Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman (left) and Sir Bill English. Composite Photo / Jason Oxenham
Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman resigned from her position on Kāinga Ora’s board in May. Her resignation letter has been released to the Herald under the Official Information Act.
Housing Minister Chris Bishop says Kāinga Ora was “in big financial trouble” during Howden-Chapman’s time on the board, and says her feedback is “unsurprising”.
A professor who served six years on Kāinga Ora’s board has slammed the review carried out by former Prime Minister Sir Bill English, fearing new political priorities could exacerbate homelessness.
Philippa Howden-Chapman, a professor of public health, resigned from her position on the board in May - ninedays after English released his review of the state housing agency.
Her resignation letter, sent to Housing Minister Chris Bishop, with acting Kāinga Ora chairman John Duncan copied in, has been released to the Herald under the Official Information Act.
It states she does not accept the validity of “your blanket criticism of this Crown agency, which has provided an extraordinary number of quality, warm, dry homes since its inception”.
Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman (left) and Sir Bill English. Composite Photo / Jason Oxenham
“Regrettably, the Final Review Report does not acknowledge in any way the board’s careful and respectful response to the Initial Report, does not correct any of the fundamental factual errors identified, and does not replace the anecdotal evidence with more robust evidence,” she said.
In December, Bishop confirmed English had been chosen to lead a review of Kāinga Ora after the minister received “worrying advice” about its finances.
The findings, released in May, suggested the housing agency had easy access to debt and low levels of accountability, leading to a “deteriorating” financial situation.
Kāinga Ora’s board defended itself against some of the report’s findings, suggesting some of the assessment was conducted on anecdotal evidence. A letter from the board, addressed to English, accuses the review of having “relatively limited engagement with our organisation”.
In an interview with the Herald, Howden-Chapman stood by the comments made in her letter, calling out the Government’s priorities.
She said she fears “that we’ll go into the cycle again of houses being sold, more people being homeless, more people in unstable, temporary housing”, with Bishop encouraging Kāinga Ora to potentially partner with private developers.
Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman resigned from her position on Kāinga Ora's board in May.
Cabinet agreed to four of seven recommendations from the review when it was released, including “refreshing” Kāinga Ora’s board and issuing it “simplified direction”, and developing a plan to “improve financial performance with the goal of eliminating losses”.
The review found the government agency was facing a potential $700 million annual deficit for the 2026/27 financial year – a figure the Housing Minister said was “very worrying”.
In her letter, Howden-Chapman said the review gives “no recognition to the monumental and innovative building programme of 14,000 homes, and the infrastructure achievements of Kāinga Ora, over the six years I have been on the board”.
She said since her appointment the agency had developed with “remarkable improvements”.
“We have closely monitored these improvements in scale, efficiency, innovation and assets of Kāinga Ora in the excellent and timely reports we receive from management.
“We have also seen for ourselves the extraordinary results in the regular visits to our regional offices and the care and attention to community engagement, particularly with regard to large-scale development sites,” Howden-Chapman added.
Howden-Chapman told the Herald the Crown agency was tasked with prioritising tenants’ wellbeing and increasing provision of warm, dry homes “because the previous National Government [was] only building at a very low rate”.
She said when she was on the board, the agency was permitted to have a debt of $15 billion, “so that it was possible to continue the scale of building”.
Howden-Chapman believed Kāinga Ora was “one of the most successful Crown entities”.
“I just basically disagree with the minister. I think it’s very sad that he’s totally ignored the cost benefits which were great for public housing.
“It’s a gamble to get people shifting around constantly again,” Howden-Chapman said.
The report from former Prime Minister Sir Bill English suggested there was a lack of "transparency and accountability" in the social housing system. Photo / Mark Mitchell
When asked about the feedback, Bishop said it wasn’t that surprising, claiming the housing agency was “in big financial trouble during the time Professor Howden-Chapman was on the board”.
“The independent review of Kāinga Ora was critical of the governance of the organisation. It is probably unsurprising that a member of the board that was criticised disagrees with that criticism.”
On the allegation that shifting government priorities could increase homelessness, Bishop said “Kāinga Ora’s existing build programme will deliver around 2600 additional homes in the next two years”.
He said the agency also has a massive renewal programme under way to update its ageing housing stock to ensure tenants have warm, dry homes.
“Our Government agrees that more social homes are needed in New Zealand which is why we funded 1500 additional social homes through Budget 2024 – but because we had such low trust in Kāinga Ora’s ability at the time, we chose to deliver these new homes through community housing providers.
“I have certainly instructed the agency to focus on delivering their core functions well, including their responsibilities as a landlord. I think most New Zealanders would agree that this is incredibly important.
“There has been plenty of publicly aired evidence of poorly-managed tenant misbehaviour over the past few years – during the period Dr Howden-Chapman was on the board – to indicate it hadn’t been enough of a focus,” Bishop said.
The minister thanked her for her service on the board and wished her well. He confirmed the Government expects to receive a “credible turnaround plan” from the Kāinga Ora board by the end of the year.
“Once we have digested it, we may begin to consider whether future additional social homes could be delivered by Kāinga Ora as well as community housing providers.”
S&P Global Ratings, released in February, noted demand for Kāinga Ora services was “high and climbing” and stated there was an expectation the role of the housing entity will “remain critical” and “its link to the New Zealand Government will stay integral”.
Azaria Howell is a Wellington-based multimedia reporter with an eye across the region. She joined NZME in 2022 and has a keen interest in city council decisions, public service agency reform and transport.
