Local councils operate their own rental housing, some of which they subsidise. Wellington City Council, for example, provides around 8 percent of all residential rental properties in the city. Local council social housing is separate from the system of central government funding for Kāinga Ora (Housing NZ) and community housing providers. A key difference is that local council housing rent isn’t subsidised by the government through what’s called the “income related rent subsidy”. This means that rent for local council housing is based on market rent rather than your income.
Contact your local council to find out about what council housing might be available in your area (contact details for each council are available at www.govt.nz/organisations).
Councils often aim to provide for housing needs that aren’t met by the other main social housing providers such as Kāinga Ora. For example, Kāinga Ora provides mainly two- and three-bedroom accommodation, Wellington City Council provides mainly bedsits and one-bedroom flats, and therefore most WCC tenants are single people and couples without children. Similarly, Christchurch City Council provides mainly one-bedroom units. Some city councils provide subsidised rental housing for older people.