Rotorua to get 200 more homes; mix of social housing and affordable rentals

Residents of recently completed Ōwhata development Tammy Hodge and Sheryl Roach. Photo / Annabel Reid

Rotorua is set to get nearly 200 new social and affordable homes as its reliance on motels for emergency housing comes to an end.

In Rotorua on Sunday, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka announced the 189 new builds would include up to 150 social houses and 39 affordable rental homes.

The 150 homes were set to be rolled out by mid-2027.

Funding had been approved from the $140m the Government committed in May last year to fund 1500 new social housing places, built by community housing providers, a statement from Potaka said.

The homes were planned under a new community-led approach initiated by the Rotorua Lakes Council, which worked alongside the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), community housing providers, and iwi landowners.

Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell, Minnie Vercoe, Danielle Rickard, Minister Tama Potaka, Rotorua MP Todd McClay, Ōwhata 2B Trust chairman Jason Rogers, and Roana Bennett at the announcement. Photo / Annabel Reid

A spokesman for Potaka’s office said further details, such as where in Rotorua the 150 social homes would be built, were still being worked through.

Potaka said the 39 affordable rentals would be built on Frank St, in Koutu.

They would be delivered by Ōwhata Kōhanga Rākau, which is partway through completing a 93-home development in Ōwhata.

The Frank St homes would be partly funded by HUD’s Māori Housing programme, and were expected to be delivered within 12 months.

They were part of a $200 million package announced in February to deliver 400 affordable rentals in high-need areas by the end of June 2027.

“Rotorua is a priority location for housing,” Potaka said.

“We’re backing community-led solutions to address the need here, which has seen disproportionate numbers of people in emergency and temporary housing, and about 700 applicants waiting on the social housing register.”

The Government was also in the “early stages” of progressing another 80 affordable rental homes for whānau Māori in Rotorua, with more details on “this next stage” to be shared soon.

Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka and Rotorua MP Todd McClay at Sunday's announcement. Photo / Annabel Reid

Potaka said contracted emergency housing would end before the end of the year, as promised.

He said some whānau had struggled to find affordable rentals, leaving them reliant on emergency and social housing.

Rotorua MP Todd McClay said one of the biggest challenges was people from across the country “fighting their way” to, or being sent to Rotorua.

He said stopping people being sent to Rotorua would make it easier for the city to look after its own.

“Everybody deserves a home; nobody deserves a motel because a motel is not a home.”

He said this initiative, along with others in place, was a “very big step” in that direction.

Tammy Hodge and Sheryl Roach and Te Ngaru Awhimate at the recently completed Ōwhata development. Photo / Annabel Reid

Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell said it was “really heartbreaking” that more than half the people in living in emergency housing motels were children.

“That’s why these sorts of developments are important because it is ensuring that young families have a better start in life.”

She said Rotorua was ahead of the rest of the country in new builds, with building consents up 40% compared to the national average of -3%.

The city’s housing plan, developed with iwi and community input, had been key to unlocking land and fast-tracking development.

The announcement was made outside Ōwhata Kōhanga Rākau’s development in Ōwhata.

Ōwhata 2B & 7 Ahuwhenua Trusts Māori land trusts own and manage about 28 hectares in Rotorua for the benefit of their descendants.

Ōwhata 2B Trust chairman and trustee Jason Rogers said housing in Rotorua was “pretty terrible”.

“We had whānau living in cars, in the back of houses in tents, so this has been transformational for our people,” he said.

The first stage of the Ōwhata development opened in December, when 16 whānau moved into affordable rental homes.

In May, 20 affordable rentals were set aside for local kaumātua, who moved into the new community.

Residents of the Ōwhata development, Tammy Hodge and Sheryl Roach, said they had been living in the new builds for about two months.

Residents of recently completed Ōwhata development Tammy Hodge and Sheryl Roach. Photo / Annabel Reid

They said they loved being so close to accessible services such as healthcare, schools and grocery stores.

We love it … the more the merrier," Roach said.

Tapsell said locals were “building their connections” and ”getting more involved in their marae”.