Has the Minister made any assessment of the impact of changes to boarder income assessment criteria that took effect from 2 March 2026 on households receiving the Accommodation Supplement; if so, what were the findings?

Answer

I have not yet received a formal assessment of the 2 March 2026 changes to the boarder income assessment criteria. The Ministry of Social Development is monitoring the implementation of the changes as part of business-as-usual operations, including tracking the impact of the changes of Accommodation Supplement uptake. Any impacts identified through this monitoring will inform future advice to myself and will be reported to the Treasury