The opening of dozens of new state homes in Porirua is being described as an important milestone but hundreds of people remain in cramped temporary housing.
Photo: RNZ /Dom Thomas
The 29 new one-and-two bedroom units were blessed this morning, with more than 50 dwellings in the city north of Wellington due for completion by early next year.
Rents in the city are through the roof, and house prices soaring.
Will Pennington from Crown state housing agency Kāinga Ora Porirua said the homes were a welcome Christmas gift for tenants in the economically-deprived Cannons Creek suburb.
"[These are] brand new, double-glazed, carpeted, warm healthy homes for tenants to move in before Christmas, which we're very pleased and we're very proud to be here today to open."
The houses join 10 opened earlier in the year and are part of the government's $1.5 billion investment in housing in eastern Porirua.
It plans to build 2000 KiwiBuild homes, 150 state homes and refurbish 2900 state houses over the next two-and-a-half decades.
Kāinga Ora regional director Greg Groufsky lauded the building programme.
"This is more homes than New Zealand's seen delivered in literally decades - not since the 1950s or '60s have we seen homes delivered in those volumes.
"It's a start, we've got a long way to go."
Kāinga Ora is working with iwi Ngāti Toa Rangatira and Porirua City Council.
Porirua mayor Anita Baker said it was fabulous the new homes were finished, but that the government broke its promise to deliver hundreds of new dwellings a year to the city.
Meanwhile, she said hundreds were forced to live in motels - many with whole families crushed into a single room - waiting for long-term accommodation.
"Originally we were promised 200 a year to start with and we're not getting that.
"We've got every motel in Porirua except one full of [people waiting for social housing].
"We have about 650 people on the wait list, so I want more houses than they're delivering.
"I'd like more houses on the ground and I'd like it a lot quicker."
Boarded up housing Cannons Creek, Porirua Photo: RNZ / Teresa Cowie
Baker said she wanted the government to cough up more money to build infrastructure for the developments.
The original state houses at the site were demolished in the late 2010s and the empty lots had led to protests calling for a kickstart to state house construction.
Labour Party electorate MP Barbara Edmonds agreed it had taken too long.
"But it's also just a indication of years of under-building.
"We're trying to catch up on 30 years of a problem so we're really fortunate - this is a start - and 50 homes in one year is excellent."
The Government said it was building or funding more than 18,000 new public and transitional homes nationwide by 2024.