DHHL set to issue record number of land leases in 2026

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is projected to hit a record for the number of land leases given out in a single year.

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DHHL predicts nearly 3,000 leases will be issued by the end of 2026.

A third of that number was reached in July, with leases offered in multiple homestead communities on Hawaii Island and Oahu.

That included 200 project leases for the first homestead in East Hawaii in more than two decades. Development for the Panaewa project is slated to begin in 2030.

The department also issued 824 project leases for homestead communities in Waimanalo, Ewa, and Nanakuli.

So far this year, DHHL has issued 82 residential project leases on Kauai, 469 agricultural and residential project leases on Hawaii Island, 240 agricultural project leases on Maui, and 824 residential project leases on Oahu.

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More awards are planned for Hawaii Island, Kauai, Molokai, and Oahu later this year.

Even with the department on pace to issue a record number of leases, 29,000 people remain on the waiting list.

The program began in 1921 when the U.S. set 200,000 acres of land aside for Native Hawaiians under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act.

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