Govt spends $4.9m on homes, more on way

Housing New Zealand will build six new two-bedroom homes on this site in 13th Ave that will help respond to demand, says area manager Teresa Pou. Photo / John Borren

Housing New Zealand has spent $4.9 million on homes in Tauranga despite the Government announcing it will sell off up to 2000 properties nationally at undisclosed locations - with ministers expected to report to cabinet in November after engagement with community housing providers and iwi.

Figures from Housing New Zealand show in the 2013/14 year it built nine new homes in the city at a total cost of $3 million and five new four-bedroom homes in 2014/15 at $1.93 million with more projects underway.

Negotiations were also in place at Pyes Pa and Judea with new developments planned for the suburbs as numbers on the waiting list continue to grow.

Area manager Teresa Pou said it was Housing New Zealand's role to provide safe and affordable homes for people in the greatest need.

"We regularly sell, purchase, redevelop and refurbish properties around the country on an ongoing basis as part of our day-to-day business. It's about having enough homes of the right size in the right places to meet demand."

In the 2013/14 financial year the organisation built five new two-bedroom homes, two four-bedroom homes and two five-bedroom homes in the city.

"We need to increase our supply of smaller and larger properties to ensure our portfolio is matched with demand for social housing."

The organisation had focused on building two, four and five- bedroom homes and it was about to develop a site at 13th Avenue and build six new two-bedroom homes. "They will help us respond to social housing demand for smaller housing in Tauranga. The new homes will be modern, stylish and designed to meet the needs of our tenants today and into the future. We are in final planning stages for a development in Pyes Pa that will deliver eight, one to two-bedroom homes and are looking to take around a quarter of the units from a 25-unit development of smaller homes proposed for Judea."

Senior communications manager Dan Jackson would not say which streets the developments were destined for but there would be a launch when the specifics had been confirmed.

Tauranga Community Housing Trust chairwoman Jo Gravitt said there was no simple solution. "The community and central and local government are all going to have to come to that party."

The problem was only the tip of the iceberg, she said.

"A lot are still not even on the waiting list and those are the people that come to services like ours ..."

Tauranga Moana Nightshelter Trust secretary Mike Mills said the homelessness they were dealing with was not fundamentally an accommodation issue. However, it had a relationship with the Community Housing Trust and its needs for its clients were mostly one-bedroom homes, he said. Earlier this month the Acorn Foundation Vital Signs report card scored Tauranga a low C-minus for housing based on community feedback.

Social Housing Register
•Tauranga District
December 2014, 129
•Tauranga District
December 2014, 127
- Ministry of Social Development

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