Completion of 100th house at first SHA celebrated

The completion of the 100th house at the Waimahia Inlet housing development in Auckland was welcomed this afternoon by Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith, who says the project is symbolic of the Government’s progress on housing.

“Waimahia Inlet is a flagship of the Government’s housing policies. It was the first Special Housing Area under the Housing Accord with the Auckland Council, which allows for the fast-tracking of consenting processes. It marks a shift from the old model of concentrated state housing to a mix of new, community-owned social housing and privately-owned, affordable homes that are benefitting from our HomeStart support package for first home buyers,” Dr Smith says.

The $120 million development is comprised of 295 homes in total – 59 social and community rental, 60 affordable community rental and rent-to-buy, 71 affordable assisted ownership, and 105 private ownership including first home buyers. The houses are a mix of two- to five-bedroom dwellings, priced from $350,000. The entire development is expected to be completed by 2017.

“This 16-hectare area sat as bare land owned by the Crown for more than 20 years. Since October 2013, new infrastructure has been built – including roads, streetlights, water, sewage, storm water and communications. This is tremendous progress and a huge credit to the consortium partners – the Nga Mana Whenua o Tamaki Makaurau made of up 13 Auckland iwi and hapu, the New Zealand Housing Foundation, Te Tumu Kainga, and CORT Community Housing. The Government has supported this partnership with a $29 million grant from the Social Housing Fund.

“The progress at Waimahia Inlet is an example of the massive residential build that is currently gaining momentum across Auckland. While 100 homes have been completed, building consents have been granted for more than 1000 houses. The total number of annual building consents in Auckland has grown from 3475 in 2009 and is now running at a 10-year high of 8721.

“The Government is encouraged by the progress that is being made but recognises the foot needs to stay on the accelerator. Our priority remains boosting the supply of new housing in Auckland. We are continuing to free up more land faster through the Housing Accord we have with Auckland Council – through which 97 SHAs have been established to date and a further tranche due to be announced before Christmas. Our new $435 million HomeStart support package, which came into effect 1 April, will help 90,000 people into home ownership over the next five years. Work is continuing on our programme to facilitate housing on Crown-owned land, with the first site gazetted for state housing purposes last week.

“The next major step will be the planned second phase of reforms to the Resource Management Act, which will address the long-term issues affecting housing supply and affordability.

“It is the combined effect of these measures that will make a lasting difference to affordability and see more New Zealanders realise the dream of owning their own home.”

Article published 14 November 2015 by beehive.govt.nz

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