Budget 2018: initiatives to house more people in need and Limited Service Volunteer expansion

Initiatives to house more people in need

The Government has committed to deliver around 6,400 more public housing places over the next four years – 1,600 a year on average.

The new public housing will be built through a combination of:

• $234.4 million in operating funding from Budget 2018
• Housing New Zealand borrowing up to $2.9 billion from third parties and investing a further $900 million from its operations. 

Budget 2018 also includes:

• $101m to sustain transitional housing in high need regions to house up to 34,000 families and individuals
• $68.9m to increase transitional housing by more than 200 places
• $20.5m to boost funding for existing services which will support more than 900 households in the Housing First programme in Auckland, Christchurch, Tauranga, Wellington and Lower Hutt
• $42.9m to expand Housing First services to a further 550 households in Rotorua; Whangarei and Northland; Nelson and Blenheim; Napier and Hastings
• $30m to fund frontline housing services
• $13.7m to top up funding for Community Group Housing through Housing New Zealand.

Limited Service Volunteer Programme Expansion

As part of Budget 2018 the Government has allocated $26 million in funding over four years to expand the Limited Services Volunteer Programme (LSV).

The LSV programme is delivered by the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) with funding and support from the Ministry of Social Development and the New Zealand Police.

The expansion of LSV will provide an further 800 places per year, in addition to the current 800. An additional 400 places will be provided in 2019, with the full 800 new places available by the end of 2020.