Defence Force homes near Whenuapai Air Base in Auckland (file photo). Photo: Supplied / Google Maps
Officials say an upgrade of Defence Force (NZDF) houses using a public-private partnership (PPP) will not cost any more than a regular approach.
The rundown NZDF housing estate needs billions of dollars spent on it, but the main project has not secured any government funding despite plans that date back to 2017.
The Infrastructure Commission has been advising the Defence Force, including about possibly taking a PPP approach.
In a PPP, private contractors would build and run the housing for 25 years, with the Crown making quarterly service payments.
The commission said it ran the sums for a PPP at the Linton defence base.
"The net present cost of these service payments... will be no greater than the modelled net present cost of payments made by the Crown if the project were delivered under a non-PPP method," it told RNZ in an Official Information Act response.
The government has been working on making PPP deals - in defence, and for building schools and courthouses - more attractive to contractors put off by the greater risks involved, and the commission said there had been a positive response to the latest consultation about NZDF's housing project.
The ACT MP leading the push, Simon Court, said the commission has done a lot of work on introducing a more flexible PPP approach that cost contractors less to bid on.
"We are now in a sprint to have this work completed in the next few months," Court, the parliamentary under-secretary for infrastructure and RMA reform, said in a speech on Friday.
"We know many in the sector feel they signed up to an undue level of risk on past PPP projects," he said.
"We understand that frustration and recognise that in some cases it has not been in either the client's or the contractors' interest to set the performance and scope bar high, and the price low."
Court said a reset on risks was part of it however instead of the Crown "defaulting to taking back risk", the first step would be to improve early planning to take some of the risks out entirely.
"With reasonable time, cost, scope, and performance parameters agreed, all parties should be expected to be, and happy to be, held to account."
RNZ asked the commission for its advice and briefings about Defence Force PPPs; it said this was too much work, and provided a six-page summary instead.
This showed the commission has also been looking whether a lease to run housing under a PPP can be given in a defence area.
The commission will lose its lead role on PPP policy in December, when that is transferred to Treasury.