Housing First — the approach of providing stable housing immediately to people experiencing homelessness, without preconditions of sobriety, mental health treatment, or employment — is now established as the most effective evidence-based response to entrenched homelessness. New Zealand has been implementing Housing First programmes since 2017, funded through a mix of government and philanthropic sources. Understanding the funding landscape is essential for organisations working to end homelessness.
New Zealand's housing crisis is well-documented — with severe housing unaffordability, rental market pressures, and a waitlist for social housing that reached over 20,000 households at its peak. Homelessness in New Zealand is diverse:
- Rough sleepers (visible street homelessness — a smaller number, around 1,000-2,000 at any time)
- People in temporary accommodation (motels, boarding houses, emergency shelters)
- Severely overcrowded households (the largest and often invisible form of homelessness)
- Couch surfers and those without secure housing
Māori are severely overrepresented in all forms of homelessness — a direct legacy of colonial dispossession and ongoing systemic inequity.
Housing First NZ — now delivered as a national programme through Kāinga Ora and community providers — provides:
- Immediate housing placement (using public housing stock)
- Intensive wraparound support (mental health, addiction, health, income, employment)
- Community integration and social connection
The programme is primarily government-funded through the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Health New Zealand. Community providers — including Lifewise, VisionWest, and others — deliver services funded through government contracts.
Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
HUD is the primary government funder for Housing First and housing support services:
- Housing First contracts with community providers
- Emergency Housing support (motels used as emergency accommodation)
- Navigation and tenancy support services
Ministry of Social Development (MSD)
MSD funds:
- Emergency accommodation assistance
- Transitional housing
- Income support enabling housing access
- Employment and capability building within housing programmes
Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora)
Mental health and addiction services integrated into Housing First:
- Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams supporting housed people
- Addiction services for people in housing programmes
- Community mental health support
Kāinga Ora (Housing NZ)
Kāinga Ora is the Crown entity managing public housing — providing the housing stock for Housing First placements, and maintaining housing for those transitioning from homelessness.
Philanthropic grants supplement government funding in several areas:
Wraparound services beyond government contracts
Government contracts often fund core service delivery but not the full range of supports needed — cultural support, recreational activities, community connection, intensive crisis support. Philanthropy fills these gaps.
Emergency response
Time-sensitive responses to homelessness — particularly in winter or following natural events — benefit from philanthropic emergency funds.
Prevention work
Government focus is often on those already homeless. Philanthropic funding can support earlier prevention — supporting people at risk of homelessness before crisis strikes.
Advocacy and systems change
Organisations advocating for housing policy change, tenancy law reform, and systemic response to homelessness access philanthropic support for advocacy and research.
Innovation and evidence
Testing new approaches, adapting international models, and building the evidence base for Housing First variations in the New Zealand context.
The Tindall Foundation
The Tindall Foundation has been a significant philanthropic investor in Housing First in New Zealand — including co-funding the initial Housing First pilots through the Social Housing Fund.
Todd Foundation
The Todd Foundation has supported homelessness prevention and housing-related community services.
Gaming trusts
Community providers offering emergency accommodation and housing support access gaming trust grants for equipment, vehicles, and operational costs.
Community foundations
Local community foundations fund homelessness-related services in their communities — particularly emergency winter appeals and local service innovation.
Housing First addresses entrenched homelessness. Equally important is prevention — keeping people housed:
Prevention is often more cost-effective than crisis response — and philanthropic investment in prevention creates significant downstream savings in emergency and health system costs.
Successful grant applications in the housing and homelessness space:
Tahua's grants management platform supports community housing providers managing complex funding portfolios — with multi-funder grant coordination, outcome tracking for housing stability measures, government contract reporting, and the tools that help housing organisations demonstrate impact across their programmes.