Water and Sewage Overtakes Housing as New Zealanders' Top Infrastructure Priority

Water supply and sewage has overtaken housing as New Zealanders' top infrastructure investment priority, according to the latest Ipsos Infrastructure Monitor released on 24 August 2026. Forty-seven percent of New Zealanders ranked water supply and sewage as the most important infrastructure priority, followed by solar energy at 40 percent and flood protection at 39 percent. (Ipsos; RNZ)

The findings are a sharp shift from the previous survey two years ago, when housing supply was the number one concern. Ipsos country manager Carin Hercock said the results moved away from 2024, when housing supply had been New Zealanders' top infrastructure concern. Housing supply has since fallen to sixth place. In the 2024 edition of the same index, 55 percent of New Zealanders had ranked creating new housing supply as the key infrastructure investment priority, followed by water supply. (Ipsos, 2024 edition)

Solar energy infrastructure also moved sharply up the list, jumping from sixth two years ago to second in the latest survey, Hercock said. The 2023 Ipsos NZ Infrastructure Survey had found water supply and sewerage was a priority for 57 percent of respondents. (Ipsos, 2023)

The survey found 41 percent of New Zealanders were dissatisfied with national infrastructure, compared with 31 percent who were satisfied. The global average for satisfaction with infrastructure was 38 percent. Hercock said New Zealand's infrastructure satisfaction was "quite high" prior to Cyclone Gabrielle but dropped significantly after that event and had not fully recovered. (RNZ)

Sixty-nine percent of New Zealanders felt the country was not doing enough to meet its infrastructure needs, the survey found. Only 21 percent believed New Zealand had a good record of delivering national infrastructure projects. The Ipsos Infrastructure Monitor press release headline stated that New Zealanders see a growing need for infrastructure investment, but confidence in delivery remains low. (Ipsos)

On funding, 41 percent of New Zealanders supported higher taxes or consumer costs for infrastructure investment. Sixty-six percent said they were comfortable with private investment in infrastructure if it meant improvement in what the country needed.

The survey is the latest in Ipsos's two-yearly series tracking New Zealanders' attitudes towards infrastructure investment. The full set of findings was published on 24 August 2026.

The trajectory of the water and sewage priority bears noting. In the 2023 survey, 57 percent ranked water supply and sewerage as a priority. The 2024 figure placed water second behind housing. Now, at 47 percent, it leads the field outright. That is a consistent, if fluctuating, signal that three waters infrastructure — the pipes, treatment plants and pumps that deliver drinking water and remove wastewater — remains front of mind for the public regardless of the political weather around the Local Water Done Well reforms or their predecessors. (Local Water Done Well is the Government's current approach to water service delivery, replacing earlier three waters legislation.)

Solar's leap from sixth to second is the more striking movement. Whether that reflects rooftop solar uptake, grid-scale generation consents, or general anxiety about electricity prices is not disaggregated in the survey data. What is clear is that renewable generation infrastructure has moved from a middle-tier concern to a top-tier one in a single survey cycle.

The satisfaction figures tell their own story. A 31 percent satisfaction rate sitting seven points below the global average, attributed by Hercock to a post-Cyclone Gabrielle decline that has not recovered, frames the delivery-confidence problem plainly. When 69 percent say the country is not doing enough and only 21 percent rate the delivery record as good, the gap between perceived need and perceived competence is wide.

The broader context here is what the funding and private investment numbers might mean in the Beehive and across council chambers. Forty-one percent support for higher taxes or consumer costs is a notable figure for any government weighing infrastructure funding mechanisms. Two-thirds accepting private investment conditional on improved outcomes gives policymakers room to test procurement models, public-private partnerships, or concession structures, provided the delivery confidence problem can be addressed. The signal from the public is conditional: openness to paying more and to private capital, but only if results follow.