A report released under the Official Information Act showed there were 18 projects, totalling 138 homes, "being assessed" by Kāinga Ora as of July this year within the Dunedin catchment.
They include an 11-property development in Albertson Ave, Port Chalmers, and a 41-property inner-city development in Carroll St.
In total, more than $6.52 million has been spent on the 18 Dunedin projects in limbo — including $1.51m on Carroll St and about $890,000 on Albertson Ave.
Correspondence from Kāinga Ora said the work associated with these costs often included demolishing old social housing units that were no longer fit for purpose, scoping, consenting the project to redevelop the land and then procuring the construction work to deliver the new homes.
"These costs are typical across the wider construction sector in the early stages of projects ... By making these sites build-ready, this work also contributes to the overall value of the asset."
The housing agency was "rephasing the social housing pipeline ... to align with the government’s expectations", the document said.
Taieri MP Ingrid Leary said this comment was bureaucracy-speak which "simply means cuts to social housing that will see fewer social houses in Corstorphine and Mosgiel and, tragically, more children living in cars or tents".
Dunedin MP Rachel Brooking said the list was troubling.
"The Carroll St development has had extensive planning and given the need for more housing in Dunedin, it is irresponsible to stop this build in a location so close to town and on an existing site.
"It is bad for both people wanting homes and our construction sector. The minister needs to step up and give Kāinga Ora the clear direction to continue with its work programme."
A "turnaround plan", led by the new board, is due to be released shortly.
Kāinga Ora acting regional director Mike Hayward said it was important to stress no decisions had been made on these projects yet.
"If projects are deemed no longer financially viable in their current proposed form, that does not necessarily mean they will be cancelled.
"There may be options to redesign the project."
Mr Hayward said customers who were permanently moved out of the Albertson Ave homes that were planned for redevelopment had all been moved into other Kāinga Ora homes.
"If customers have indicated they would like to move into the new homes on completion, we have let them know that we will make best endeavours to make that happen, but for a number of reasons, we cannot guarantee this.
"The customer’s needs, eligibility and priority rating on the Housing Register may change over the time the homes are built [and] the new homes may have a different number of bedrooms to the home they moved out of and therefore not meet their needs and eligibility."
Over the past three financial years Kāinga Ora has delivered 127 homes for use as social housing in Dunedin. In this financial year (ending June 30, 2025) Kāinga Ora hoped to deliver an additional 47 homes for use as social housing in Dunedin.
As of June, there were 396 people in Dunedin on the public housing register.
