Te Ao Māori

Govt supports some Maori housing ideas

18:48 pm on 29 October 2012

The Government is supporting some proposals to make it cheaper and easier for Maori to build a roof over their heads.

Ministers have embraced recommendations from the Productivity Commission to make housing more affordable.

The broad report tackles a range of issues including, taxation, planning and the rental market - and Maori housing.

One of five recommendations specific to Maori is to train whanau ora workers to educate families about the options to build properties on multiple-owned-customary land - which is currently hard to achieve.

The Government supports the idea.

It says the welfare staff could: learn about the steps Maori need to take to build on shared land; work more closely with Maori Land Court officers and local and regional councils; and host summits on papa kainga - family homes built on a whanau land plot similar to a marae setting.

Ministers say they'll now make an assessment on whether to use whanau ora workers to help families build a whare on their traditional whenua.