He Kãinga Hou ki te Hau Kãinga

Many owners of multiply-owned ancestral Maori land want to build housing on their land, but difficulties mean that relatively few developments have been realised. Some difficulties result from the nature of Maori land tenure under the Maori Land Act 1993, which aims to balance the protection and development of Maori land. Others are related to government policies and the demands of the market environment. The desire to build housing on Maori land reflects a social and cultural connection to the land, as well as problems with increasingly unaffordable housing for the indigenous Maori and general population in the growing cities of Aotearoa/New Zealand. This thesis explores how owners of Maori land develop housing on their land, how property development concepts apply to these developments, and the effect of government policies on the viability of housing development on Maori land. The research documents two case studies in the western Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, where owners of Maori land have taken up the challenge to develop housing on their land for their people. These developments are compared with two housing developments held in general (non-Maori) title. The research finds that the interpretation of concepts such as return, risk, and timing are very different in developments on Maori land than in developments on general land. Stated social and cultural objectives for development combined with a goal to provide affordable housing suggest that the two housing developments on Maori land could be considered `not-for-profit'. This suggestion is supported by the developments' reliance on government funding, and similarities with other not-for-profit housing models on collectively-owned land. Government policies aim to encourage housing development on Maori land through various policies including funding, targeted land-use planning, and capability support. These policies differ in their effect on supporting owners of Maori land to meet the costs of development and to develop their land as papakainga. Central government provides funding for development, but there is uncertainty about whether local government will act to reduce the costs of development that are within their control, such as Development Impact Fees. This research suggests that developing housing on multiply-owned ancestral land is possible in a market environment, but that developments will operate differently to housing developments on general land. Currently government policies attempt to address these differences with varying levels of success. It is apparent that in high-growth areas, housing development of a not-for-profit nature on Maori land contributes to local government objectives of accommodating population growth, and central government objectives of improving access to affordable housing. However, provisions in the Maori Land Act which protect land by restricting alienation and requiring extensive consultation with multiple owners complicate housing development on Maori land. Owners of Maori land must also resolve the tension between `development for today' and `protection for tomorrow'. These two case studies of housing development on Maori land illustrate that the protection and development of Maori land are not exclusive. The thesis concludes that in order to encourage more housing on Maori land, there is a critical need to balance the protective mechanisms of the Maori Land Act with targeted government policies that increase the viability of housing development on Maori land, where this fits with owners' aspirations.