New state houses planned for Strathmore suburb
As Wellington grapples with its housing crisis, more state homes are on the horizon.
Last year, Housing New Zealand (HNZ) committed to drive a transformation of the city’s social housing by investing $48.5 million to build 145 new social housing units in Mt Cook, Berhampore, Johnsonville, Newtown and Wellington Central.
The state housing provider has now sought resource consent to build 12 household units in Strathmore and it has plans in the pipeline for more developments in Newtown, Mt Cook and on The Terrace.
Plans lodged with Wellington City Council show 10 two-bedroom, terraced townhouses and two four-bedroom standalone homes in Strathmore Ave, with the first units expected to be completed in mid-2019
Housing New Zealand Wellington regional manager Jackie Pivac said Wellington had ‘‘finally woken up’’ to its housing crisis.
According to the Ministry of Social Development’s housing register for Wellington City, there are 292 people seeking accommodation, with the majority waiting for one and two-bedroom homes.
Housing New Zealand has 1600 units in Wellington and has adopted a dual strategy – to bring its stock up to the current national standard or build new properties.
The Government was clear – it wanted the agency to grow its portfolio and supply more homes, she said. ‘‘We have a lot of stock in Strathmore and there was talk at one time about reducing it but as long as there is demand, we are now being asked to meet it.’’
The agency was ‘‘on a roll’’ and looking at all its Wellington properties as it made future ‘‘investment decisions’’.
The capital had some of the oldest state houses in the country. A number of its buildings were failing, so they would be demolished and replaced with warm, modern homes, she explained.
Housing New Zealand was currently planning to redevelop its Rolleston St flats in Mt Cook, and it is believed that a ‘‘high-dependency’’ home – likely to be named Te Whare Okioki – could be part of that new complex.
Pivac said initially the organisation planned to bring the block up to standard but demand for housing in the area had resulted in a new plan to redevelop the site. It was expected to include supported living accommodation with about 20 beds, though no final decisions had been made.
It was a new approach that would see supported living tenants live alongside general tenants for the first time.
‘‘We are seeing more demand for central Wellington and we have got to be clever about making use of each site as it comes up for redevelopment.’’
Housing New Zealand planned to making the most of its vacant land in Newtown’s Coromandel St, and was progressing with plans for a 36-unit development on Owen St.
The redevelopment and refurbishment of the McLean Flats on The Terrace was also on the cards. This would see 34 one-bedroom homes built, a level added to the existing block, as well as the construction of a new standalone building.
Councillor Brian Dawson, who holds the city’s social development and housing portfolio, said the council was also committed to housing those in need.
The council, which was the city’s biggest social housing landlord with 2600 units, had confirmed that it would build 750 affordable homes.
Dawson said the goal was to grow city housing because 350 people were on the council’s accommodation waiting list.