Taking the next steps towards affordable housing

AUCKLAND CITY COUNCIL

MEDIA RELEASE

2 April 2006

Taking the next steps towards affordable housing

Auckland City is narrowing down its search for a partner organisation to provide and manage homes for low-income working families in Auckland.

Following a successful request for Expressions of Interest, Auckland City has now identified a short-list of candidates. The Community Development and Equity Committee today approved the project team's recommendations to continue discussions with the short-list to identify a partner or partners.

Once selected, the partners will work with the council to undertake a housing demonstration project, which will result in one or more housing developments for working families in Auckland.

Chairperson of the Community Development and Equity Committee, Dr Cathy Casey, says, "High property prices and high rents mean many low-income families find it impossible to afford to live in Auckland city.

"This is an exciting and innovative project which will enable Auckland City to take a leadership role in this area.

"We are very pleased to have received such a high calibre of submissions from a number of organisations across the city. Having carefully evaluated the organisations, we will now move to the next stage of development and make our final choice of partner(s)"

ENDS