Home owning promise for iwi members
Nga¯ ti Toa Rangatira has agreed to pay the Porirua City Council $10 million for the problematic View Rd complex.
The iwi plans to have wha¯ nau living in some of the Tı¯tahi Bay hillside properties within three to six months. ‘‘They will be affordable . . . Everything we do going forward will enable our housing to be genuinely affordable,’’ said Nga¯ ti Toa chief executive Helmut Modlik.
The sale, rubber-stamped at a publicexcluded council meeting on Thursday, has become an antidote to a long-running headache for the council, stretching back to 2007 when it was taken to court for consenting the Hinds Builders Ltd development, despite failing it days earlier. The View Rd development was later deemed to have watertightness issues and was bought off the owners following a Weathertight Homes Resolution Service assessment.
While Te Ru¯ nanga O Toa Rangatira’s offer for the 24 townhouses – half of which still need about $5m of remediation work – was lower than the other substantive offer on the table, the iwi offer had no conditions and a shorter settlement period.
For the council, one of the most attractive aspects of the iwi bid for the 12 two-bedroom and 12 three-bedroom duplex units was that they would remain in local hands.
Describing the properties as ‘‘attractive’’ and boasting ‘‘million-dollar views’’, Nga¯ ti Toa’s Modlik said the sale meant some of the 120 wha¯ nau on its housing register would finally have a roof over their heads at rents lower than the open market.
Tenants will then be able to buy the duplexes. ‘‘Our housing model is to not actually sell the land, so our intention will be to hold the land in trust, in perpetuity, and then initially to rent but then ultimately to sell the apartments themselves to iwi members,’’ Modlik said.
The iwi was also keen to expand its housing portfolio further, with representatives due to discuss with the council the possible purchase of its Moana Court Flats.
Nga¯ ti Toa manages more than 900 properties through its social housing arm Te A¯ huru Mo¯ wai.