Tūwharetoa Settlement Trust to build 13 affordable houses in Tūrangi

Aerial view of Tūrang. Photo / Alan Gibson

The Tūwharetoa Settlement Trust is to build 13 affordable rental homes in Tūrangi.

It is intended that the rental homes will be used as a stepping stone to home ownership.

Tūwharetoa Settlement Trust chair Rakeipoho Taiaroa says the Trust has recently purchased 13 sections in Tūrangi and these will soon be the sites for 13 new affordable rental homes.

He says the homes will provide an affordable rental option for Tūwharetoa Settlement Trust registered members. As tenants, they will gain financial literacy and home maintenance knowledge that will help move them towards home ownership.

The homes will be built in Taupō and then transported to the site in Tūrangi. Work begins on the building of these homes in September 2022 and the first five homes will be on-site in Tūrangi by January 2023.

"The building of these affordable rental homes is just the start of the housing mahi that we are carrying out to help meet the needs of our people," Rakeipoho says.

The Tūwharetoa Settlement Trust is providing the land and the building costs will be shared with the Crown, via the Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga fund.

Rakeipoho says the initiative is a Tūwharetoa approach to meeting the housing needs of the iwi.

He says the Tūwharetoa Settlement Trust is not in the social housing business, and Kāinga Ora and the Ministry of Social Development have no involvement in this project. The houses will form part of a Tūwharetoa Settlement Trust housing strategy called He Iwi Kāinga.

Tūwharetoa Settlement Trust general manager Sean te Heuheu says work began on this kaupapa in 2019. This mahi started with an analysis of the current housing crisis in Aotearoa, from a Ngāti Tūwharetoa perspective.

"This led to the design of a unique strategy to help address the housing Kaupapa from multiple approaches, including the use of affordable rentals as a tool.

"Before people can own a home, they need an affordable place to live. As people move from these affordable rental homes to home ownership, the homes will continue to service Ngāti Tūwharetoa for generations to come."