- Hon Dr Megan Woods
Housing Minister Megan Woods has opened 21 new public homes in Masterton today, welcoming the return of new Government-owned public housing to the area for the first time in two decades.
"This is an important milestone for the Wairarapa and the people and families in need of public housing," says Megan Woods.
Along with the 21 Masterton homes and two new homes in Dannevirke, the developments represent the first step in a commitment to delivering a larger pipeline of housing projects in the region, with at least 80 new homes in the construction, planning or feasibility stages.
Megan Woods also confirmed today that Kāinga Ora is working with a developer to build 11 homes in Featherston, in addition to another development for 4 homes in Greytown.
Today's opening of public homes in the Wairarapa coincides with a major milestone in its public housing programme.
"We have delivered an additional 13,305 public homes since October 2017, which is a phenomenal result and means this Government has delivered one in seven of the country's total public housing stock.
"Most of these additional homes are brand new. This demonstrates the difference between Labour and the National Party's approach to public housing; they sell them off and we build them.
"We are on track to deliver 21,000 public and transitional homes by 2025. This extraordinary pace of delivery from both Kāinga Ora and community housing providers, is evident in communities across New Zealand. Old, cold housing is being replaced with warm, dry homes.
"In just six years we have rebuilt the public housing stock after National left New Zealand with 1,500 fewer public homes than it started with, and failed to invest in new ones.
"We are now finalising the latest update of the Public Housing Plan which will determine where the extra 3,000 public homes we announced at Budget 2023, will go.
"We know regions such as the Bay of Plenty, East Coast, Waikato and West Coast/ Tasman have a large need for more public homes, and they will be prioritised in the Plan that will be finalised in September.
"Delivering public housing - like we have done in Masterton and all over New Zealand, means more homes for those in need, as well as work and training opportunities. Over 22 thousand people have been involved in our public housing build programme, with over 250 apprenticeships.
"This demonstrates core Labour commitment to rebuilding public housing stock in regional areas, with the biggest housing investment in decades. We are delivering more pubic homes per year, since the Nash government of the 1950s," Megan Woods said.
- The new Masterton homes consist of 18 Kāinga Ora homes at Iorns Street and 3 x homes at Michael St in Masterton
- The final updated Public Housing plan (2021-2025) will be released in September
- National ended up with 1,500 fewer public homes than it started with after its mass sell-off of public housing
