Labour pledges 200 homes for Hamilton
A promise of 200 more homes for Hamilton is a good start but it’s not enough when it comes fixing the ever growing abyss of social housing, says a homeless advocate.
Labour announced on Friday it would build the affordable homes in Hamilton - including in Jebson Place - as part of a bid to fix the housing crisis.
The promise comes on the back of National’s announcement on Thursday of 43 new state houses around Hamilton.
Hamilton Christian Night Shelter manager Peter Humphrey, is grateful that the focus of the dire housing situation is an election year platform, but he is questioning why it has taken so long to be addressed.
‘‘The waiting list is getting bigger but families have nowhere to go,’’ Humphrey said.
‘‘Why wasn’t it done years ago, quite a few years ago actually because we’ve seen this problem growing. There have always been anecdotal stories from families but now there is clear evidence.
Labour leader Andrew Little said that unused government land will become the site for new KiwiBuild houses and state houses.
Labour’s full plan for Hamilton will provide ‘‘thousands of good, modern, affordable homes’’.
‘‘We will build new houses to replace the abandoned state houses at Jebson Place and on the site of other run-down state houses, as well as new developments.
‘‘It’s a disgrace that National has left this site rot for years on end in the middle of a housing crisis,’’ Little said.
Labour’s KiwiBuild homes will be priced from $200,000 for one bedroom units to $350,000 for three-bedroom terraced homes.
Hamilton’s housing waiting list had 219 entries in March and National’s 43 new state houses wouldn’t meet that need, Little said.
‘‘When we’ve got a housing crisis, the Government needs to step up and build some houses. National won’t do it. Labour will.’’
‘‘We’ll do that by building affordable homes for first homebuyers, cracking down on speculators who use our houses as gambling chips, and building state houses for families in need,’’ Little said.
On Thursday, National’s Social Housing Minister Amy Adams announced that Hamilton was in the middle of getting 43 brand new state houses around the city.
The $12 million project of one or two bedroom houses will be completed by July.
Little made his announce- ment at Jebson Place on Friday morning.
The future of the area - which includes Old Farm Road, Cassidy Street, Dey Street and, through the middle, Jebson Place - has been up in the air since 2014.
It was then that tenants of the Hamilton East state housing block were formally notified about a redevelopment plan. After that, the buildings began to empty out and houses were boarded up and the 21,000-square-metre site has been dormant since.
In March the Hamilton City Council signed off on a redevelopment of the area. The redevelopment plan calls for 53 residential units that will be a mix of apartment units, duplex dwellings and single detached dwellings.