Far North District Council housing strategy to making building homes easier

Far North District Council wants to reduce barriers to building new homes across the district, including Kaitāia, by working closely with iwi and hapū, housing agencies and developers.

Far North District Council is developing a housing strategy to remove barriers to building new homes as 15.5 per cent of residents live in overcrowded conditions.

The large number of empty properties and those used as AirBnBs were also in the spotlight.

Deputy Mayor Kelly Stratford, who heads the newly-created housing portfolio with councillor Babe Kapa, said the council will not be building any houses.

She said housing in parts of the district was dire.

The Far North population is projected to peak at 83,200 in 2049, but already 15.5 per cent of the Far North population were living in overcrowded conditions. When it came to Māori, overcrowding in the Far North was at 27.6 per cent.

In March last year there were 480 applicants on the Public Housing Register, compared to 90 in March 2018.

Stratford said there were people living in cars, often with children, in tents, in garages, or several generations of a family living in one small home.

“And many of those people are working, but they just cannot get a home, because there are none available, or it’s too expensive.”

The Far North district has a housing affordability index of 6.6, which is defined as severely unaffordable.

Stratford said the impact on the health and wellbeing of those without a home was huge.

“Everybody needs a roof over their heads, it’s a basic human right, and we have a role to play to help make it easier to build homes for our people in our region.”

The council plans to work with iwi, hapū, developers and public housing agency Kāinga Ora to make building easier.

The strategy may take up to 18 months to implement but Stratford said it is hoped any government changes to rules around building homes will speed this up.

The new coalition Government has said it wants to remove the red tape that stops houses being built. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon visited community housing projects in Northland while in the region for Waitangi Day commemorations, including at Te Kao and Utukura.

Far North Deputy Mayor Kelly Stratford said the council has an important role to play in making it easier to build homes in the district, with FNDC developing a district-wide housing strategy

Stratford said widespread opposition to Kāinga Ora building much-needed social housing in Kerikeri showed the agency needed to work with communities more, and that the strategy should help improve communication.

The move follows a proposal to develop a district-wide housing strategy that was adopted by councillors in December.

The strategy will be developed by drawing on the award-winning collaborative approach adopted by Hastings District Council to address housing challenges. The approach clearly identified areas of council responsibility and those of other agencies, and was successful in improving the housing situation in Hastings.

Developing the strategy is expected to cost $150,000 over a two-year span, and $75,000 annually has been proposed in the Long Term Plan 2024-27.

Stratford said council would be looking at empty houses in the district, including holiday homes and properties used as an AirBnB.

“The strategy will investigate possible solutions for dealing with those empty homes that people could live in.”

She said some councils charge a special rate if a home is empty or used for AirBnB.

A report delivered to councillors in December noted the council’s role in housing had largely been as a regulator, which had resulted in ad-hoc development with no cohesive approach across the district.

The report said while the council does not have the mandate or resources to tackle the crisis housing alone, it is the authority best placed to lead a strategy to get all agencies around the table and working together.

To kick-start development of the strategy, council staff and elected members attended the inaugural Waitangi Housing Expo at the Treaty Grounds on Waitangi Day.

Stratford said the strategy got a lot of interest at the expo, and with the new Government’s vow to reduce the red tape it could help the council’s plan come to fruition sooner.

The state of the Far North:

■ Far North population projected to peak at 83,200 in 2049.

■ Household size between 2.6-2.7 occupants.

■ Number of dwellings projected to peak at 32,100 in 2046.

■ 480 applicants on the Public Housing Register as at March 2023, an increase from 90 in March 2018.

■ 15.5 per cent of the population in the Far North living in overcrowding situation. For Māori overcrowding in the Far North is 27.6 per cent.

■ The New Zealand Index of Deprivation shows Far North as having a high deprivation level.

■ The Public Housing Plan found Northland has the worst quality housing in NZ.

■ Far North district has a housing affordability index of 6.6 which is defined as severely unaffordable.

■ Employment growth has averaged 2.8 per cent per annum between 2014 and 2020.