Homes for Tamariki

Profile

The Homes for Tamariki fund (H4T) was established as a partnership between Oranga Tamariki (OT) and New Ground Capital (NGC) to assist in housing the most vulnerable children and young adults who are in the care of OT.

These young people often have a variety of complex needs and are unable to be placed in the care of extended family or foster care. OT identifies properties that are well located and suitable for the young people in their care. H4T then undertakes due diligence, acquires the properties, and then leases them to OT on a long-term basis.

Helping children at the extremely negative end of the inequality spectrum is a complex task and one that requires the successful delivery of many factors, in order to obtain successful outcomes and experiences for the children.

In addition to the bricks and mortar of a house, access to carers, counsellors and other specialist providers, all contribute to the positive outcomes provided by H4T. Providing a safe and secure place for the children and their caregivers to live, increases a young person’s access to support services and their chances of flourishing and going on to live good lives.

Impact

New Zealand has some of the worst child well-being statistics of the developed nations, coming last in children’s mental well-being and third to last in overall child well-being.

By taking the most vulnerable children out of dangerous and unstable environments, H4T helps to reduce social inequality, a key PCIF focus area. This investment also positively contributes to the New Zealand Government’s child well-being priority, and, more broadly, is in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal to reduce inequality.

In 2019, an OT commissioned report to examine the social effects of moving children from suboptimal housing to safe and secure housing found that:

• Truancy declines by 35%
• Suspensions decline by 46%
• Attainment of NCEA level 2+ increases by 49%
• Serious offending declines by 45%
• The need for treatment for substance usage declines by 24%
• The need for treatment for mental health issues declines by 8%
• Emergency Department admissions reduce by 8%
• Hospitalisations decrease by 11%
• Employment for the whole year at age 20 increases by 23%
• Likelihood of being on a benefit reduces

Children tend to stay in accommodation of this nature for their more high-risk / high-need years (generally 13 – 18 years old) and then re-integrate into society. This process then allows further children to have access to these homes and thus compounds the positive social effect. Also, there are flow on benefits through lessened demand on the country’s healthcare, welfare, and justice systems.

Currently, many of these children are in emergency housing accommodation, such as motels. Moving these children and these careers to safe and secure housing is something we feel all New Zealanders will be proud of. 

In FY 2024, H4T had financed 5 houses with 7 children housed.  More details are available in our annual impact reports here.

Transaction Summary

In May 2022, the Purpose Capital Impact Fund became the first investor in H4T. The first homes began settling in June 2022. H4T remains open for further investment.