Kāinga Ora budgets retrofits at 7x build-cost inflation

The housing agency will spend $323m to upgrade older houses. (Image: Getty)

Fri, 12 Jan 2024

Housing agency Kāinga Ora will spend $323 million to renovate 820 homes this year, an average of $393,902 per home.That’s only marginally less than the cost of building a brand new 140 square metre home at today’s prices, Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) research shows.In 2023, the agency costed its retrofits at $251m across 747 of its older residences, or $336,011 per home, meaning it's banking on a construction inflation level of 17.2%.That’s more than seven times last year’s annual inflation of 2.4% for build costs,...

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