TUA collaborator Kāinga Maha wins Excellence at the 2026 Property Industry Awards

Greer O'Donnell attended the 2026 Property Industry Awards, hosted by the Property Council New Zealand last Friday night as a guest of Kāinga Maha, who received Excellence in the Community and Affordable Housing category for the Te Pāku Maru project. Huge news - congratulations to the whole Home crew!

Our work with Kāinga Maha spans design, strategy and delivery (on this project we provided Urban Design support). But design is only one part of what we do at The Urban Advisory. Our speciality is working the client through the “readiness” phase, making sure they know what they want and have the right structures and tools in place to enter into a deal with key partners, who we identify for them.

For example, TUA supported Ngāti Rēhia to develop plans to build a housing portfolio over time, before introducing them to Home Capital Partners who was able to help fund a social housing projects in Kerikeri that meant the iwi could grow their social housing portfolio.

On another project for Ngāti Rēhia, we developed a regenerative Kāinga framework to guide the future development on their whenua. This planning also acts as a reference point for the development projects they do with with partners, like the legends at Gemscott. By operating this way, we’re able to ensure teams with limited resources are adequately skilled and equipped to enter into capital raising and transactions.

Much of this work we do is pro-bono, or at discounted rates, because we cross subsidise from our commercial business lines, foregoing profit to deliver our “for purpose work”, with a particular focus in enabling Māori housing outcomes. Sometimes we get grant funding - which we also write the applications for - so that projects not getting any traction can be unlocked. Sometimes local council's support with funding, but often it has to be found from the not-for-profit philanthropic sector.

We’re thrilled to have the amazing Amy Te Maro as a core part of the TUA team, who is currently taking part in Mana Kāinga: A National Māori Housing Leadership Programme, which is run by Te Matapihi - National Māori Housing Advocate. She’s building on the skills and experience TUA already has in this space, and we are looking forward to seeing what her knowledge further unlocks for our communities.

Reach out if you need a hand to figure out how to get your project moving.

📸 @dillonphotonz