Housing Minister Megan Woods has today opened 42 public homes in Rotorua, something the Government said is the "largest public housing development completed in Rotorua to date".
It's a city plagued with housing challenges, with a Rotorua Lakes Council report presented last year that stated it had an unmet demand for 1500 homes, and that shortage was set to rise to almost 4000 by 2050.
Emergency housing in motels has also proved a controversial topic in the town, and was investigated by TVNZ's Sunday programme Golden Mile, and local media.
The new homes' construction included the use of offsite manufacturing, which Woods said sped up their delivery, which took about 18 months.
Kāinga Ora bought the land in late 2021.
“The scale and pace at which new homes are being delivered here in Rotorua, and with more on the way, is how we are going to get whānau into more suitable housing and out of motels and other emergency housing situations," she said.
“We’ve come a long way since National ended its term in government with 42 fewer public homes in Rotorua. So far, we’ve added 351 public homes and we are planning hundreds more."
The homes are a mix of two, three and four-bedroom single storey homes, aimed at suiting different household types.
Most are expected to be smaller and larger families.
At the end of last year following increasing pressure for action on emergency housing, the Government, Te Arawa and the council signed the Rotorua Housing Accord, aimed at reducing the use of emergency housing in Rotorua to near zero as soon as possible, and addressing the "chronic housing shortage in Rotorua by increasing the housing supply", among other things.
Woods said the opening of the 42 public homes today held true to the Government's commitments in the accord.
“Most moving into these warm dry and modern homes will be coming from emergency and transitional housing, and these homes will offer them stability, opportunity and a better life for their whānau.
SHARE ME