The Kainga Whenua housing scheme is off to a slow start.
Housing New Zealand's chief Maori adviser, Tamati Olsen, says that about 200 applications have been received for the scheme, which guarantees Kiwibank loans for building on multiply-owned Maori land, but none have yet been approved.
He says there are as many as 11 steps to go through when applying for Kainga Whenua money.
"Working between ourselves, Kiwibank, the Maori Land Court and local government ... it's an arduous process," he told Waatea News.
Sixteen runanga have applied for the half dozen or so Maori demonstration partnerships. Typical of the schemes wanting to tap into the $5.5m budget, Mr Olsen says, is a Northland runanga that wants to build 10 communal houses.
He says some asset-rich, cash-poor iwi have missed out because of the requirement that partners put up half the cost of a project.
