"Public housing is an essential part of helping families and vulnerable people with one of their most basic needs, housing," he said.
"It will take bold action to fix the housing crisis created over the past decade and the Public Housing Plan is another step in the right direction."
Community Housing Aotearoa applauded the Public Housing Plan, but said the 6400 funded units were far too few given the growing needs of more than 10,500 applications on the social housing register.
Chief executive Scott Figenshow said the Public Housing Plan disappoints in the small number of funded housing units.
"We are underwhelmed by the quantity desired by the Government as it will not put a dent in the genuine social housing demand, and it does not activate the capability of the community housing sector," he said.
However, Figenshow said the expectations for the plan were low because of the lack of investment allocated in the May Budget.
"We want to see the Government significantly investing in this plan in Budget 2019, and we'll be pushing the Government hard on that," he said.
"There are currently over 5000 homes in the community housing sector pipeline over the next two years, but that declines to less than 900 given the lack of available capital funding."
Figenshow said Community Housing Aotearoa was waiting to hear further information about expanding resources to get more Kiwis into warm, dry, affordable homes.
"We understand looking after the 'missing middle' will be a focus of the new Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, and we look forward to movement in that area," he said.
The single biggest handicap for the community housing sector was the lack of upfront capital investment for new housing construction, Figenshow said.
"This plan fails to provide that, so we expect this to be an issue that is remedied in future plans."
Although, Community Housing Aotearoa was pleased to see the views of providers reflected in the contracting framework in the new plan.
"The Government has listened to sector ideas and concerns and has adopted many of the proposed solutions," Figenshow said.
"We hope this signals a permanent change in approach, one that the new Ministry of Housing and Urban Development will make part of its organisational culture."
It was also great to see a plan that was open across all of New Zealand, with the operating supplement and market rent now available in all parts of the country, Figenshaw said.
"We have called for an open approach that lets providers bring proposals to Government as the opportunity arises, and we hope the new strategic partnering approach will deliver on that."
Regional breakdown - Bay of Plenty:
Current public housing supply in the region: 2661
Current public housing tenancies: 2634
Total number of additional public housing places being sought by June 2022: 275
Number of additional public housing places being sought that are in the pipeline: 250
Number of additional public housing places still being sought in the Plan, above and beyond the pipeline: 80
Households receiving an income-related rent subsidy: 2568
Register demand is greatest for places with: one-to-two bedrooms
TLA with the biggest growth in demand for public housing compared to other TLAs in the region (compared to June 30, 2017): Tauranga City (up 80 applicants)
