Ten new social homes in Porirua expected to fill up

Ten new social homes opened in the Porirua suburb of Tītahi Bay this week, the second project completed as part of a strategic partnership between local iwi Ngāti Toa, local council and the government.

Three whānau have already moved in to the development on Tuki Street and all the homes are expected to be full by the end of next week.

Te Āhuru Mōwai chief executive James Te Puni (Ngāti Uepōhatu, Ngāti Porou) told RNZ there are 10 homes in this development, ranging for two through two five bedrooms houses.

"People coming in here are coming from two different sources, they're either existing social housing tenants with Te Āhuru Mōwai who have a particular need and, frankly, have been great tenants and would be a great fit for a new development and also people coming off the social housing list out here in Porirua. And, sadly, there are still more than 300 whānau on the social housing list waiting for those."

Te Āhuru Mōwai is owned by Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira, it was established under a partnership with the government in 2020 to manage and care for 950-plus homes between Paekākāriki and Tawa that were previously managed by Kāinga Ora.

Te Puni said at any one time between 40 and 45 percent of their tenants are Māori, and in broader terms around half of people on the social housing list are Māori.

"We have a number of Ngāti Toa whānau who have chosen and are able to and qualify through social housing need. And so there's a large number of those whānau within our wider number of a thousand whānau. In this development, there are some Ngāti Toa whānau amongst whānau Māori of other whakapapa and people of non-Māori whakapapa... Pasifika whānau and others. It's a reflection really of our wider Porirua community."

Another 10 affordable rentals are on the way in Paekākāriki with a number of other developments in the works, he said.

"So we're at the early stages still. This is the second development of 13 developments that will deliver 125 homes to whānau between Paekākāriki and Waikanae all the way through to Tawa. So it's a big programme and, you know, every time we do a development like this it's exciting. At the moment we're probably three or four months away from delivering another 12 home development in Owhiti Street in Tītahi Bay."

Te Puni said Ngāti Toa's original aspiration was to immediately purchase the homes managed by Kāinga Ora. As that wasn't Crown policy at the time there is a 50-year lease with some rights to develop the land if the iwi through Te Āhuru Mōwai directly chooses to buy out some of those assets over the 50 years, he said.

"Part of the deal we've done here is we've purchased a couple of homes, well actually three homes in this case, from Kāinga Ora under those arrangements and developed 10 beautiful new homes on the site. And this whenua, through that process, has been returned to Ngāti Toa ownership. And Ngāti Toa, all credit to them, are providing those to people of anyone who has a need and is in Ngāti Toa territory.

"The deal is a good one in terms of incentivising development. It's fair to say that the standard of housing that was inherited reflected, without getting at anyone, 40 years of neglect. So there's a lot of work to be done to improve the housing within our wider area, but we're getting on with it."

What Te Āhuru Mōwai hope they are demonstrating is that a kaupapa Māori and mātauranga Māori based approach actually can work for whānau Māori and for whānau of other whakapapa, he said.

Porirua Mayor Anita Baker told RNZ Te Āhuru Mōwai is building very quickly, often under budget and on time.

"So the partnership with iwi and council and government, so councils obviously doing the processing for everything as quickly as we can, helping out during the building consents on time, and then the are government funding. So we're really lucky and appreciate the partnership all together."

Baker said there was a huge need for warm and houses in Porirua.

"So government has been helping out both ways, but just doing it a different way. Instead of having Kāinga Ora do it, they've got the partnerships with iwi and the Pacific. So it's a much better way to get what we want on the ground and faster, so they're building actually what we need."