“With high population growth and a growing housing register, the new housing project offers an innovative solution to the region’s housing crisis,” she said.
The trust has become a registered Community Housing Provider (CHP) to carry out the project, which fits in with a Far North District Council housing initiative.
The council is developing a housing strategy to remove barriers to building new homes as 15.5 per cent of residents in the district live in overcrowded conditions.
Far North District Deputy Mayor Kelly Stratford, who heads the newly created housing portfolio with councillor Babe Kapa, said the council would not be building houses. She said housing in parts of the district was dire.
The Far North population is projected to peak at 83,200 in 2049, but already 15.5 per cent of residents were living in overcrowded conditions. When it came to Māori - who make up almost half the population - overcrowding was at 27.6 per cent. In March last year there were 480 applicants on the Public Housing Register, compared with 90 in March 2018.
Stratford said there were people living in cars, often with children, in tents, in garages, or several generations of a family living in one small home.
The Far North District has a housing affordability index of 6.6, which is defined as severely unaffordable. The council plans to work with iwi, hapū, developers and public housing agency Kāinga Ora to make building easier. The strategy may take up to 18 months to implement, but it is hoped any Government changes to rules around building homes will speed this up.
“We see this upcoming development as an extension of the work Claud Switzer started. His vision is something we keep front of mind and supporting our local community is the very core of the trust’s purpose,” Mills said.
“In line with the Eden philosophy we embrace at Switzer, we are passionate about creating authentic human habitats that uphold an individual’s right to a life full of purpose, connection, empowerment and possibility, regardless of age or changing abilities. We are therefore very excited to be able to get this project off the ground to ease some of the burdens on individuals and their families in the area.”
She said this was by no means a 100 per cent solution to the housing shortage the town faced, “but it is an excellent start. And it will bring the community closer together, which is always a good thing”.
Mills said after attending a Far North Holdings Ltd (FNHL) presentation on the future planning of Kaitāia community projects, Switzer saw an opportunity to become a registered CHP. The trust board was supportive and agreed there was a need for such housing to accommodate a critical subset of the community’s older folk.
“Myself, the management team, our board of trustees and FNHL have worked tirelessly over the past 18 months to assemble a robust plan and all the required supporting documentation for the application,” Mills said.
Far North Holdings Ltd CEO Andy Nock said it was always looking to work with communities around Te Tai Tōkerau, with the goal of generating long-term beneficial outcomes.
Nock said he was proud of what the Switzer housing partnership had achieved and hoped to partner with others in Te Tai Tōkerau to achieve CHP status.
The proposed 28 units have been designed to be accessible - eight fully accessible and eight partially accessible - with the rest designed to meet the needs of the cohort, and these will support independent living while encouraging health, wellbeing, and community among tenants.
The community housing project will include functional landscape design consisting of extensive fruit trees and vegetable gardens, a covered gathering area, and recycling and parking facilities.
The plan is also to extend the 315 solar panels that provide electricity for Switzer to power the new units when funds allow; the trust and FNHL will look to include charging stations for mobility scooters.
The CHP project isn’t the only major item on the trust’s to-do list, which includes plans for an eight-unit retirement living village across South Rd from the all-but-completed Te Hiku Sports Hub that would be sold as right-to-occupy units, and the addition of a 30-bed hospital wing.
“Now, as a registered CHP, we are keen to investigate further opportunities to support our community, just as Claud Switzer wished,” Mills said.
It is expected the project could be completed by about August 2026, and more details will be released once resource consent is applied for.
The Switzer housing development is the latest for the Far North with Kāinga Ora also having plenty of homes under construction or consented:
- Under resource consent for Kaitāia: 60-62 Grigg St, 17 homes, consenting phase; 7-29 Parkdale Cres, three two-storey homes, ready first half of 2025.
- Kāeo: Turner St, one home, under construction, ready second half of 2024.
- Kerikeri: 115 Kerikeri Rd, early planning stage for homes for over-55s; 5-7 Clark Rd, 12 two-level homes, consenting phase, ready first half of 2025; Waikare Rd, early planning stage.
- Under construction: 3 Clark Rd, eight two-storey homes, ready second half of 2024.
- Kaikohe: 23-27 Mangakahia Rd, four homes, consenting phase.
- Under construction: Kōwhai Ave, seven homes, ready first half of 2025; Ōmāpere Rd, one home, ready first half of 2024.
