Housing strategy

The Kāpiti Coast District Council Housing Strategy 2022 outlines the Council’s current thinking about housing in the Kāpiti region. It includes our vision and principles, the various types of roles we can play, and actions for the short, medium and long term. It enables us to prioritise investment and capitalise on partnership opportunities, manage risk and coordinate our housing response across other areas of our work. 

There are multiple roles the Council needs to play to help to deliver better housing outcomes for Kāpiti:   

  • regulator / service provider  

  • facilitator / connector / advocate  

  • enabler / funder  

  • housing provider. 

A key part of our strategy is to provide a foundation from which we can continue to grow productive partnerships with iwi, our partners, central government, the private sector, community housing providers and the community.  

Kāpiti Coast Housing Strategy [PDF 4.8 MB]

Work to date

Since adopting the Housing Strategy in 2022 Council has: 

  • Investing in Solutions: Council has distributed $200,000 through the Community and Affordable Housing Seed Fund, supporting six local organisations and housing providers to get new housing projects off the ground. 

  • Making Housing Easier: An Additional Dwelling Guide has been developed in partnership with community organisations to provide practical advice for residents considering building a secondary dwelling on their property.

  • Supporting Growth: Council has created a Development Facilitation function to directly support people delivering strategically significant housing projects in our district.

  • Backing Affordable Housing: We supported the formation of Kāpiti Housing Solutions, an independent affordable housing trust dedicated to increasing housing options in the district.

  • Enabling growth: Council has adopted changes to the District Plan (Plan Change 2) to meet Government requirements to enable more medium density housing and higher development in local and town centres to help address the district’s housing shortage.

    Council has also worked with iwi to develop new rules for the District Plan to make it easier to build papakāinga.
  • Improving infrastructure for Ōtaki homes: Council successfully secured funding through the Government’s Infrastructure Acceleration Fund in 2022 to support the delivery and upgrades of critical infrastructure in Ōtaki that is needed to support housing growth.

  • Data collection: We have a solid information base that enables us to collaborate with various partners to deliver housing solutions in the most appropriate locations.

  • Collaboration: Council is working with key government agencies, iwi, community housing organisations and developers to build understanding of the issues in Kāpiti and encourage greater investment in housing in our district that better targets what is most needed.

  • Helping Those in Urgent Need: Council works closely with agencies that work with people experiencing homelessness or at risk. We are committed to helping our most vulnerable residents access housing support.

  • Older Persons’ Housing: Council has commenced a review of our Older Persons’ Housing portfolio, exploring how we can grow affordable, accessible housing for our ageing community.