A housing charity wants the Far North District Council to set aside land for community housing next to a new sports hub being developed at Waipapa. Photo / Peter de Graaf
A housing charity wants the Far North District Council to set aside land for community housing next to a new sports hub being developed at Waipapa. Photo / Peter de Graaf
A Kerikeri housing charity and a local hapū are calling on the Far North District Council to set aside land for community housing as the town's housing affordability crisis deepens.
Kairos Connection Trust and Ngāti Rēhia have identified surplus council-owned land adjoining a new sports hub under development next toState Highway 10 at Waipapa as suitable for a community housing project.
Kairos put its case to councillors earlier this month, backing it up with research into the difficulty of buying or renting a home in the booming Bay of Islands town.
The current median sale price in Kerikeri, according to oneroof.co.nz, is $875,000.
Kairos general manager Shirley Ayers said that meant the average house price was more than 15 times the median Northland wage.
Kairos Connection Trust general manager Shirley Ayers. Photo / supplied
The situation was just as dire for renters, Ayers said.
Kairos figures showed a single superannuitant had to spend 70 per cent of their income on a one-bedroom ''lower quartile'' flat (meaning the flat is among the cheapest 25 per cent available). The figure was 78 per cent for an average-priced flat.
For a single minimum wage earner renting a one-bedroom flat the figures were 45 per cent (bottom quartile) or 50 per cent (median); while a single parent on minimum wage with two children had to spend 65 per cent or 71 per cent, respectively, to rent a three-bedroom house.
Usually anything more than 30 per cent is usually regarded as unaffordable.
Ngāti Rēhia trustee Nora Rameka. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Ayers said unaffordability had flow-on effects for Kerikeri employers.
A Kairos survey found Kerikeri Retirement Village was concerned about the housing situation of 60 per cent of its staff.
The village knew of couples with both partners in full-time work and earning above the minimum wage who could not afford to live in Kerikeri.
The housing situation for care workers would only get worse as Arvida's much larger retirement village was built.
New World had similar concerns for 80 per cent of its staff, while at the Far North District Council — despite paying moderate to high wages — incoming staff reportedly no longer tried to rent or buy in Kerikeri.
Under the Kairos proposal developers would be forced to set aside a proportion of land for community housing.
A community trust would build homes, sell long-term leases, and buy the homes back at the original cost plus inflation when the occupants wanted to move on.
According to Kairos, the scheme offered the security of home ownership at a significantly lower cost. The only thing owners missed out on was big capital gains when they sold.
A bird's eye view of homes built at Cherwell Lane, Lower Shotover, by the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust. Photo / supplied
A similar scheme already existed in Queenstown, another area grappling with unaffordable homes and the resulting labour shortages.
There, Queenstown Lakes District Council used ''inclusionary zoning'' requiring property developers to set aside land to approved housing providers such as Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust.
The trust had been operating for 14 years and had so far helped 225 households.
Homes built at Shotover by the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust. Photo / supplied
To set an example and get the ball rolling, Ayers called on the Far North District Council to set aside 10 per cent of the 44ha sports hub site at Waipapa for community housing.
The land could be allocated to Ngāti Rehia and Kairos, which would build homes but retain the land in perpetuity.
A housing charity wants the Far North District Council to set aside land for community housing next to a new sports hub being developed at Waipapa. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Far North Deputy Mayor Ann Court said the next step would be for the council's chief executive to order a decision-making report on Kairos's request so it could be considered by councillors.
She agreed Kerikeri had a serious housing affordability problem but didn't think the land Kairos had requested was suitable. It had no services and was entirely within a flood zone, she said.
