Group being set up to address housing shortage

A WORKING group is being set up to investigate Invercargill’s ‘‘concerning’’ housing shortage.

Venture Southland chief executive Paul Casson said while there had been much publicity around housing problems in New Zealand’s bigger cities, Invercargill had its own issues to sort out.

Rental accommodation was scarce in Invercargill and the properties for sale were also limited, as buyers fought over a small supply, he said.

He said this time last year there were about 600 houses for sale, but that had been reduced to about 300 this year.

The government housing waiting list had risen from 20 to 53 since December.

The 190 Airbnb options now available in Invercargill was another factor in putting pressure on the city’s housing market, he said.

The shortage comes at the same time Southland leaders have their sights on attracting 10,000 more people by 2025 to the province, to provide the workers required to grow various industries in the province.

‘‘We do need a housing strategy. If we want to attract people here we do need the housing for them,’’ Mr Casson.

He said it wasn’t just a matter of increasing the housing stocks. It was also important the region had the type of housing available which would help attract people to live in Southland.

Venture Southland has already joined Southland’s Chamber of Commerce and other organisations for an informal meeting. A more formal group was being put in place to investigate what can be done to sort the housing situation.

‘‘We’ve got some big challenges ahead of us,’’ he said.

Mr Casson said a key component would be to identify what land was available for potential housing developments.

He said a lot of the land was already captured within the ‘‘five or 10acre lifestyle blocks’’ on the fringes of Invercargill, which took up a good chunk of land.

The group was likely to work with the Government in an attempt to tap into the Kiwibuild initiative, Mr Casson said.

The Government has committed $2 billion for KiwiBuild, which aims to deliver 100,000 affordable, quality homes for firsthome buyers over the next decade.

Around 50,000 of these homes will be in Auckland.