Largest ever investment into Māori housing appears to be on track

It aims to deliver 1000 new homes by 2025. (Source: 1News)

The largest investment ever made into Māori housing appears to be on track to deliver 1000 new homes by 2025.

But Māori remain over represented in those experiencing homelessness, severe overcrowding and uninhabitable living conditions.

Matariki Makoare had a simple dream to give her babies a comfortable home.

"There were 18 of us living in our place, in a three bedroom home and we've got three children. I just recently had a baby, he's seven weeks this week," she said.

That dream is now a reality, with three new rental properties in a 10 home papakāinga development in Hastings now complete.

"We've been waiting for this moment for such a long time and it was just like an amazing feeling, so much stress lifted off our shoulders," she said.

"We've got a comfortable, beautiful, brand spanking new home for us and our children, and our babies have their own space."

The $4.7 million project has mostly been funded by the Government, with the Mahue-Pera Ahu Whenua Trust contributing just $800,000.

Its come out of the $730 million Māori housing budget.

"I think its been over 30 years trying to pull something like this together, its been gratifying to get to this stage," said Mahue-Pera Ahu Whenua Trustee Zack Makoare.

The Government plans to build 1000 homes and repair 700 owner-occupied homes over four years.

So far, 206 houses have been built, more than half of those are papakāinga homes, and 257 houses have been repaired.

Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson said the Government has a clear strategy.

"Māori housing ownership has dropped back over the last few years and its a long road but we'll get there," he said.

"There wasn't a lot of money available for papakāinga but we've upped that pūtea, and its hugely significant because people want to bring their whānau back, and papakāinga is about that, bringing whānau back who will commit in terms of the whānau, the land and the tribe."

As an incentive for Māori to build on unutilised land, the Government will front all infrastructure costs for papakāinga homes and up to 75% of construction costs.

But accessing papakāinga is harder for Māori who aren't connected with their iwi or hapū.

"I've always put it on iwi authorities, a lot of them who are driving this, to make sure their connections are right with people who stay in the cities," Willie Jackson said.

Māori housing remains a crisis

• Māori make up 37% of those living in state housing (Pākehā make up 27%)

• Just 50% of Māori recorded as living in a warm, dry home

• 13% of Māori are living in an crowded household, 8% are living in a severely crowded house

• 900 Māori understood to be living without shelter

• Just over 1000 Māori living in temporary accommodation

• Just over 10,000 Māori staying with others in a severely crowded household

• More than 15,000 Māori living in housing considered ‘uninhabitable’

Māori Party Co-leader Rawiri Waititi said the Government could be doing more.

"There are 200,000 unoccupied houses according to the 2018 census, 38 thousand ghost dwellings were in Auckland," he said.

"The Government has been unwilling to introduce a capital gains tax to stop overseas speculators, to tax empty houses, and our economic system has created a generation of renters."

Matariki Makoare is hopeful she'll one day be on the property ladder.

"That's always been a dream of mine, to own my own home, but this is making it easier, its making it affordable."

It's a dream other whānau will hope to realise too.

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