ASB has doubled the size of its Accelerated Housing Fund to $1bn, reinforcing its commitment to tackling New Zealand’s housing shortage and supporting social and affordable housing projects nationwide.
The fund, launched in November 2023 with an initial $500m, has already committed $420m to support the delivery and long-term investment of more than 1,000 new homes. The expansion will enable thousands more homes to be developed in the coming years, extending support to a wider range of projects and providers.
Ben Speedy, general manager of commercial banking and business strategy at ASB, said the expansion demonstrated the bank’s ongoing role in enabling housing development and investment. “We are intent on helping more New Zealanders into homes, and part of that is being an enabler of new housing development and investment through all stages of the economic cycle,” he said. “We have a role to play in addressing housing supply by supporting Kiwi businesses and not-for-profits who have the solutions New Zealand needs. With the expanded fund we’ve evolved the way we lend, making it easier for social and affordable housing projects right across the continuum to get off the ground, sooner.”
Speedy said ASB was also reducing presale requirements for affordable housing developments to make the fund more accessible to a wider range of projects. He added that the expansion aligned closely with recent Government initiatives. “The expansion of our Accelerated Housing Fund aligns with the Government’s recent announcement of the Community Housing Provider Loan Guarantee scheme. We see this as an important step in supporting the community housing sector to deliver more homes for New Zealanders,” he said.
The move builds on ASB’s wider efforts to accelerate housing delivery and support developers, community housing providers, and investors in delivering long-term housing solutions across the country.