About public housing providers

To become a provider of social housing receiving the income-related rent subsidy, you would need to be eligible and achieve registration with the Community Housing Regulatory Authority (CHRA) first.

Once registered with CHRA, you would then enter a contract with the Ministry of Social Development for the tenancy services you intend to provide and receive the income-related rent subsidy for.

Once registered, CHPs will be eligible to enter into a contract for the provision of IRRS tenancies. Please note that any such arrangement is at the discretion of MSD, and tenancies will need to be offered in respect of properties that conform to demand for public housing by area and bedroom type.

Read the IRRS Outcome Agreement (Word 64.21KB)

As a public housing provider, you’ll be working with some of our most vulnerable New Zealanders. The Ministry assesses each person or household’s eligibility for public housing based on their needs. When we assess their needs we look at:

• their ability to afford alternative private housing
• the standard of their current housing
• the extent to which the applicant’s current housing meets their needs (includes overcrowding)
• particular factors such as accessibility or discrimination that may prevent them from finding housing
• their ability to afford non-social housing in the long term.

Depending on their needs and options, households may be put on the public housing register and referred to a public housing provider. Providers are responsible for matching applicants to properties, based on their needs. People and households with the greatest needs are placed first.

Guidelines and forms to be used by community housing providers in their day-to-day interactions with the Ministry of Social Development for Income-Related Rent Subsidised tenancies.

On this page you'll find answers to frequently asked questions for Community Housing Providers.