140 social houses in Tauranga could be replaced with townhouses

Accessible Properties has started its medium-density project at 878 Cameron Rd. Photo / Image

Modern townhouses could replace 140 social homes in Gate Pā to help address Tauranga's housing crisis and population explosion - a move that could also help home buyers and renters.

Tauranga City Council said the city is running out of room and the population is expected to increase by 50,000 in the next 30 years. It had identified Gate Pā as a place to provide wider housing choices.

Accessible Properties Tauranga manager Vicki McLaren said a lot of the properties on 11 hectares in Gate Pā were old, in need of renewal and on large sections.

She said the social housing provider was working with the council and had the capacity to double or triple its portfolio in Gate Pa by building two to three-storey homes that focussed on mixed housing, which would offer diverse housing options.

''Our Tauranga development programme will deliver 75 new homes by 2023 and 153 by 2028, but the city needs significantly more.

''Accessible Properties sees great potential for improving the quality and availability of housing in the Gate Pā area, using a master planning approach in partnership with the community, iwi, council and others. We are passionate advocates for the development of inclusive communities providing a mix of housing types and tenures, where people can belong and thrive.''

The housing would be social, rent to own, market rentals or buy and McLaren said it was vitally important that community wellbeing was top of mind as the organisation planned for the future.

The first Accessible Properties Gate Pā medium-density development would be completed in October: A duplex on the corner of 878 Cameron Rd is being replaced with six two-bedroom homes.

Tauranga City Council strategy and growth general manager Christine Jones said Tauranga had the fourth-smallest geographical area compared with other New Zealand cities and ''we're running out of room''.

''This means we need to be smart about our use of space and balancing the economic, social, cultural and environmental needs of our community.''

The council would be working with the community to develop an overall plan for the Te Papa area that runs from Barkes Corner, through the city centre to the harbour bridge - an area traditionally known as the Te Papa Peninsula.

The council would be out and about in the Te Papa community in August and September to listen and understand what people value about their communities, she said.

''[The] council is working closely with organisations like Accessible Properties to enable them to renew their current housing stock and deliver more housing. [The] council is proposing plan changes to the City Plan to enable more housing choice through a variety of housing types and site sizes.''

Te Papa/Welcome Bay ward councillor Bill Grainger said cities that were growing as much as Tauranga needed to build up, not out.

''It is a must that we have more high-density areas. But we will need to take care of stormwater, wastewater and infrastructure issues as well so all of them marry together.''

Ministry of Housing and Urban Development funding and programme delivery deputy chief executive Scott Gallacher said the ministry worked with a number of community housing providers to increase supply in the region including Accessible Properties.

The government's Public Housing Plan hoped to secure 6400 additional public housing places nationwide by 2022. Of those, 105 additional places were planned for Tauranga City with 160 already in the pipeline, she said.

Accessible Properties
* Accessible Properties currently owns 1144 social houses in Tauranga.
* It acquired 1140 state homes in Tauranga from Housing New Zealand on April 1, 2017.