From bowling green to homes for kaumātua
In her 60s and facing eviction from the rental she shared with extended family, Ngahuia Terei’s housing future looked bleak. But a new project has turned land the elderly once played bowls on into housing specifically for them and put a roof over the head of Terei and dozens of others in Hamilton.
An increasing number of elderly people landing in emergency housing was the catalyst to turn a former Frankton Bowling Club land into a multi-million dollar housing development aimed at the city’s elderly.
Home means a “whānau base” for kaumātua (elders) like Terei, but unable to find an affordable private rental the grandmother in her 60s had been forced to settle into transitional housing.
Terei spent years living in a five-bedroom intergenerational rental with her children before they were left “scrambling” when the landlord opted to sell-up, giving them 46 days to find another home.
The kaumātua village was a “blessing” considering transitional housing was a temporary band-aid with no certainty.
Living on a pension, “you can cover everything if you use it wisely” Terei said, but many in her generation were struggling to balance rent and everyday necessities.
“The policies of today in order to get another big home was really difficult, it’s not as easy as it was, so many things have changed,” Terei said. Hamilton had the second highest emergency housing population in the country with over 1000 adults and children in emergency accommodation according to a September 2023 quarterly report while nation-wide there were over 25,000 people sitting on the housing register.
Spearheaded by community provider Te Rūnanga o Kirikiriroa (TROK), in partnership with Pragma Home Builders, the newly established village offers 24 residential units. The 2-bedroom units, fitted with modern facilities also feature personal garden space, recreational areas and a central community hub where social services can come directly to residents.
Subject to the applicants meeting the necessary criteria, the kaumātua will be able to stay in their permanent ‘kainga’ for a fraction of the market rate through income rent related subsidies.
The project stemmed from a real need to respond to the growing number of kaumātua who were being displaced and not being able to afford private rentals, Yvonne Wilson TROK strategic relationships manager – housing, said.
“The other driver has been the increasing number of kaumātua who have been using motels as alternative accommodation, that’s in no way suitable, we shouldn’t have our kaumātua or anybody in motels.”
When the former Frankton bowling club came up for sale three years ago the rūnanga, which has 10 branches across Waikato, were hooked. The provider applied for funding support from The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and other stakeholders to secure the site.
“We’ve been really deliberate about what we’re doing and the reason why we’re doing it,” Wilson said. “The rūnanga also provides services to our whānau that live in motels, we have a number of transitional housing homes, we will be moving kaumātua from emergency transitional into their permanent home which is here.”
The kaumātua village joins 14 other units already established adjacent to the new site.
The site “made complete sense” towards extending the other site, TROK chief executive Andrea Elliott-Hohepa said.
The Kaumātua village was a continuation of a range of projects the provider was hoping to complete including a possible extension of the village or a “home ownership scheme” down the line.
“The rūnananga works to a whānau-first, to government based well-being approach, we work across the lifespan. We want well-being, we want wellness, this is not an aged care facility, these are forever homes.” No longer scrambling to secure a permanent home, Terei was looking forward to reconnecting with her “whānau base”.