New social housing: Vanessa Weenink
More than 65 new social homes will be delivered in Canterbury by Community Housing Providers (CHPs) in Linwood, Merivale, and Somerfield.
Our Government is committed to providing improved social housing. That means building the right homes, in the right places, with the right support, for the people most in need. Having warm, dry homes helps keep families thriving at school and at work, so it’s vital we improve the housing situation.
I recently joined Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger for the opening celebration of Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust’s new housing developments in Somerfield, which has 43 new, one-to-four-bedroom homes. When this project is completed, there will be 65 homes in total.
Under this Government it wont stop there, with more than 65 new social homes on the way for Canterbury to be delivered by Community Housing Providers.
Four of the homes have already been delivered by the Christchurch Methodist Mission, and over 60 others will be delivered from early 2026 by Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust, working in conjunction with construction partners of their choice.
Importantly, more than 80 per cent of these homes will be one- and two-bedroom units. Half of those waiting for a home nationally need a one-bedroom property yet only 12% of Kainga Ora stock meets that need. These builds will help address the greatest gap in social housing supply in Canterbury.
Throughout New Zealand, CHPs and Kāinga Ora have delivered over 6800 net new social homes since November 2023, with 837 of those places being in Canterbury. In addition to this, the Government has committed funding for more than 2000 additional homes to be delivered by CHPs over the next two years.
We’re also simplifying the funding system so providers can get on with building homes, instead of navigating a confusing system and announced a new loan guarantee scheme, reducing borrowing costs for CHPs to help them deliver to more homes. The Government’s wider reset of the social housing system is already showing positive results. Recently, the Community Housing Funding Agency achieved an A+ credit rating from S&P Global.
We’re focused on delivering homes that match the needs of people and communities.
Vanessa.weenink@parliament.govt.nz
