Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust and Ngāi Tūāhuriri's first mixed housing project in Somerfield in Christchurch. Photo: RNZ / Niva Chittock
Christchurch's mayor says central government will get more houses if it guarantees funding for local-led community projects.
Housing Minister Chris Bishop unveiled Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust (ŌCHT) and Ngāi Tūāhuriri's first mixed housing project in the suburb of Somerfield in Christchurch on Wednesday.
The 40 Carey Street homes consist of affordable rentals, community houses and gradual home ownership, targeted at families.
Ten of them would be for Ngāi Tūāhuriri whānau.
The whole complex has been built like a micro-neighbourhood, centred on a green space with picnic tables and a basketball half court.
Part of the complex. Photo: RNZ / Niva Chittock
There were currently 2000 people in need of housing in Christchurch, ŌCHT's chief executive Cate Kearney said.
"For those most in need, we have 11 public houses in here that are two, three and four bedroom [homes]," she said.
"What used to be here was 32 bedsits, single social housing units built in the 1940s, now there are 104 bedrooms. That's quite a lot of new housing stock coming on the market."
The project had been built in roughly six months, to time and budget, and was the 14th ŌCHT development, Kearney said.
"Our challenge is the start-stop nature of funding. That's not about changing governments, it's been like that since we were created eight years ago. Some years funding is easy, some years it's not," she said.
Barriers included supply chain shortages and the amount of social or community housing allocated by central government to Christchurch, Kearney said.
Paenga Kupenga, Ngāi Tūāhuriri's economic development arm, said it had aspirations "to do a lot more" and continue the new partnership with ŌCHT.
From left: A Ngāi Tūāhuriri whānau member moving into one of the houses, Barry Bragg, Cate Kearney, another whānau member, Chris Bishop, Phil Mauger and Alex Skinner. Photo: RNZ / Niva Chittock
The rūnanga had been largely focused on providing social services from Tuahiwi, in North Canterbury, but since the 2011 earthquakes had been more involved in making things happen in the city, the chair of Paenga Kupenga, Barry Bragg said.
"That was one of the key messages for the Crown today, that the community can take responsibility, in partnership with iwi, to build more houses," he said.
"Our whānau represent a fair reflection of the rest of the community. There are a lot of lower and middle income earners that are struggling to get into the housing market."
Ngāi Tūāhuriri was pleased to see the project come to completion and hoped to see more follow on from it, Bragg said.
Barry Bragg in side one of the new homes. Photo: RNZ / Niva Chittock
Christchurch City Council had another five areas of vacant land the same size as the Carey Street project that it wanted to develop with ŌCHT, mayor Phil Mauger said.
"All we need is the government to help us fund them. And we know for a fact that we're building these buildings for just under half the price per square metre as Kāinga Ora. The same house.
"So please, give us the money and we can build double the houses," he said.
Kāinga Ora had the same builder, but more overhead costs, Mauger said.
The next step was to expand ŌCHT to provide its services to Greater Christchurch, he said.
"We want to have it that the Waimakariri and Selwyn districts can just latch onto the side, otherwise, they'll have to start up a whole regime of their own," he said.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it. We just want to expand it out, let some of their guys join the board and share the love around."
Housing Minister Chris Bishop speaking at the official opening of the complex. Photo: RNZ / Niva Chittock
Central government had big ambitions for social housing, and right across the housing continuum, Bishop said.
"In Budget 2024 we re-allocated money from first home grants and put it into new social housing places, so 1500 new social houses from 2025 to 2026 and onwards," he said.
"That will mean ŌCHT, for example here in Christchurch, has confidence about the pipeline for the future."
Projects like Carey Street were the future of community and affordable housing, Bishop said.
"Gone are the days where you build social housing in one part of the city or the neighbourhood and just leave people to it."
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development would outline where the 1500 houses would be built and the criteria used to work out their location by the end of June, he said.