Rotorua housing: Housing Minister Megan Woods opens 42-home Kāinga Ora development in Pukehangi

Forty-two Kāinga Ora public homes have been built in Rotorua’s Pukehangi suburb - and families are expected to begin moving in as early as next week.

Housing Minister Megan Woods was in Rotorua on Friday to open the new development on Quartz Ave (formerly Collie Dr).

The 42-home subdivision is the first of three in a planned 60-home development. The next two stages of the project include a development on Gem St, which will have 10 new homes, and Roger St, which will have eight new homes.

Pukehangi residents were informed of the development in February.

Speaking to the Rotorua Daily Post after the tree-planting ceremony, which marked the completion of Quartz Ave, Woods said the development was proof of what could be achieved by the Rotorua Housing Accord.

“We need to keep adding homes in Rotorua,” Woods told the Rotorua Daily Post.

“My hope for the accord is that we will do that together in partnership with iwi, in partnership with the Rotorua Lakes Council.”

The 42 homes are all single-story with a mix of two-bedroom, three-bedroom and four-bedroom homes. Each has a deck and an easy-to-maintain and fenced private section with a garden area. The development includes shared green space and landscaping, an internal loop road and allocated off-street parking for each home.

Woods said the high-quality homes had been “really quickly delivered”.

“They’re fully insulated with carpets, curtains, double-glazing and heat pumps to meet the healthy homes standards.”

Housing Minister Megan Woods opens 42 newly completed public homes - the largest public housing development in Rotorua to date. Photo / Alex Cairns

Pukehangi resident Karyn Rogers said everybody should have a place to call home.

“Today was really special for me because I’m a neighbour as well,” Rogers said.

“I just want to see it filled with kids. I want to see all the kids running around. We think that people really need houses and that’s why we support it.”

Rogers said motels were not homes.

“I feel sad when I think of a generation of children being brought up in motels because that’s not how we were brought up. We played on the road and we played with the neighbours. I want to see another generation brought up like that.”

The Quartz Ave homes were constructed off-site by BuiltSmart in Huntly.

BuiltSmart general manager Cameron Beverland said being involved in the project meant a lot to the company.

“We’ve got 48 build bays. So we can physically build 48 houses in eight weeks.”

The 42 single-storey mix of two to four-bedroom homes on Quartz Ave were each constructed off-site in two months or less by BuiltSmart. Photo / Alex Cairns

Beverland said it meant a lot to BuiltSmart employees to be able to attend Friday’s ceremony.

“All the builders don’t get to see the finished product,” Beverland said.

“They’re in the factory, they’re working and to come and see what we produced in the factory turned into a little village like this is really humbling.”

BuiltSmart project manager Craig Mitchell said work had begun on the first Quartz Ave homes in November 2022.

“We started delivering the first lot of houses in early to mid-December. We can produce a two-bedroom house in about seven to eight weeks,” Mitchell said.

In her speech at the ceremony, Housing Minister Mean Woods thanked Rotorua Housing Accord partners, Te Arawa, Ngāti Whakaue and the Rotorua Lakes Council.

“We’ve come a long way,” Woods said.

“This is about building communities and this is about making wonderful spaces for people to live their lives.”

Woods said families would be moving into the home from next week.

“Most of them are expected to come from emergency housing motels,” Woods said.

“We made a commitment to build a better housing and urban future for whānau in Rotorua and these homes are a testament to the fruition of that commitment.”

However, Woods said she knew the job “was not over”.

“The scale and pace at which new homes are being delivered in Rotorua and with more on the way is how we’re going to get more whānau into more suitable housing and out of motels and out of more emergency housing situations.

“The numbers are going the right direction but we are under no illusion. There is more to be done.”

The opening ceremony included speeches from Woods and iwi representatives, a tour of four of the homes, a tree planting and a haka performed by students from Aorangi School.