155 more state homes for regions

"If we want to reduce homelessness, we must build more state houses.'' Housing Minister Phil Twyford

Housing Minister Phil Twyford has announced that up to 155 new state houses in the regions will be ready by June this year.

The houses will be spread across 15 regional centres, with Napier/hastings getting almost 50.

The homes will be built on vacant Housing New Zealand land and on under-utilised lots.

‘‘This is the first step in building more new homes to help those most in need in our regions. In total, it will build more than 270 bedrooms for individuals or families in the areas where they are needed most,’’ Twyford said.

‘‘Work will begin on these houses this month and it’s expected that people will start moving in from mid-2018.

‘‘This is the largest building initiative Housing NZ has undertaken outside the main centres in decades.’’

Unlike another state housing announcement on Friday morning these developments are largely not something the Labour-led Government has picked up from the previous Government, despite their quick build time.

Twyford said that while individual houses might have been scoped prior to the election, the regional initiative was new.

‘‘Some of those houses – I couldn’t tell you exactly how many –would’ve been in the pipeline,’’ Twyford said.

As at December 2017 there were 6182 people waiting for a state house; 420 of them were in the Napier/hastings area getting the most new housing.

The homes are spread across regional centres.

The Government is committed to building 1000 new state homes every year of this term. Twyford’s ultimate goal was 2000 a year.

‘‘If we want to reduce homelessness, we must build more state houses. If more state houses had been built in the past decade, we would not have the levels of homelessness we do today,’’ Twyford said.

Where are they going?

Far North – 10

Rotorua – 8

Whakatane – 8 Napier/hastings – 49

New Plymouth – 6 Whanganui – 7 Palmerston North – 11 Nelson / Marlborough – 20 South Canterbury – 19 Dunedin – 14 Invercargill – 3

The Government also announced 50 new transitional homes in South Auckland on Friday, although this project was started by the previous Government. ‘‘The new studio units, located on Browns Rd in Manurewa, will ensure 200 people have a place to go immediately, and are not left out in the cold, while they are supported to find a longer term housing option,’’ Building and Construction Minister Jenny Salesa said.

Transitional housing provides short-term stays for people on the state house waiting list.

A new build in Auckland that will see 16 old state homes converted into 82.

This too was begun by the previous Government.