Criteria

Weighting

Guidelines

A not-for-profit organisation does not generate a profit, or if it does generate a profit the profit is used for charitable purposes.

Evidence an applicant is not-for-profit can be established through:

• its Constitution in the case of a limited liability company
• its Trust Deed in the case of a Charitable Trust
• its Rules in the case of an Incorporated Society
• other foundation documents.

NB Local authorities will only be eligible where no viable community housing provider or Iwi/Māori organisation is seeking funding for a similar activity.

Wherever possible, applicants will be required to provide a minimum of 50 percent equity of the project. Equity contribution will be assessed on the value of the completed property.

Projects that provide less than 50 percent equity will only be considered where the organisation is a long term housing partner with Housing New Zealand.

A key emphasis of HIF funding for 2009/10 is to leverage available funding in a way most likely to result in the largest number of new housing units.

Plans for growth would be evidenced as follows:

• Applicants will have provided housing for at least 12 months, with a clear explanation as to how additional HIF funding will be used to accelerate this still further; or
• A clear and specific business plan to achieve growth using the HIF funding to establish a base level of equity from which ongoing growth can be leveraged.

The Crown Priorities for 2009/10 are:

• Rental housing projects where pressure on Housing New Zealand's waiting list is high, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton, Napier, Queenstown, Nelson/Marlborough and Tauranga.
• Home ownership projects where supply is tight and affordability levels are low - Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton, Tauranga, Nelson/Marlborough and Queenstown.

New supply for affordable housing is essential and priority will be given to new builds over purchase of existing property.

Assessment will examine the extent to which the applicant is clearly in the business of housing provision, as opposed to housing provision being a by-product of other service offerings.

This may be evidenced by a track record of community housing provision or it may be explicit in Trust deeds or other founding documents.

This needs to be considered on two levels:

Applicant capability. There needs to be specific evidence the applicant has sound governance and management systems in place;

Project viability. Sufficient planning has been completed to demonstrate readiness to deploy resources to commence the project (indicatively within a 12 month timeframe).