Distinguished Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman is co-director of the He Kāinga Oranga/Housing and Health Research Programme at the University of Otago, Wellington. She served for six years on the board of Kāinga Ora and before that the Housing NZ board, resigning in June 2024.
OPINION: The review of Kāinga Ora Homes and Communities, initiated by the former National housing minister, Sir Bill English, and agreed to by the current minister, Chris Bishop, has sparked controversy.
This review apparently ignored the detailed briefings on Kāinga Ora’s exceptional progress over the past six years. Instead, it placed the blame for the problems of a complex housing system squarely on Kāinga Ora, characterising its governance as incompetent and its finances as unsustainable.