The Government announced the Infrastructure Acceleration Fund (IAF) in March this year. The IAF is a two-stage contestable fund of at least $1 billion for infrastructure investment to facilitate housing development in the short to medium-term. It is intended to jump-start developments and increase the pace of housing supply.
Eligible applicants first submit expressions of interest, with a smaller number then invited to submit full proposals.
Initial expressions of interest closed on 20 August. Over 200 proposals totalling over $5 billion were submitted, mostly from councils and with the majority of proposals estimating delivery of housing within the next five years, if they receive funding.
The IAF fund is administered by Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities and is part of the $3.8 billion Housing Acceleration Fund.
Kāinga Ora is currently undertaking an initial evaluation, with applicants to be informed of the outcome in mid-October. Successful applicants from the initial evaluation will be invited to submit a more detailed response to a request for proposal to enable Kāinga Ora to undertake its due diligence.
The majority of the final IAF funding decisions will be made in 2022, but Kāinga Ora may be able to fast-track some proposals through the negotiation process.