STATEMENT
27 April 2017

Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick says the council looks forward to partnering with the Government and other agencies to address housing issues in the district.

“This is a very high priority,” she said today [Thursday 27 April] following yesterday’s announcement of plans for 117 more social and transitional houses in Rotorua.

It is proposed these would be a mix of new builds and existing properties and the Government is encouraging community housing providers to partner with the Ministry of Social Development to help achieve the goal.

“I look forward to hearing the detail from Government and am keen to understand what Council’s role could be to help make this happen,” the Mayor said.

There was certainly need for more housing in Rotorua, and growing concern about homelessness, she said.

“Initiatives like the social housing plan announced yesterday would be part of the solution.”

Housing and homelessness were complex, multi-faceted issues which needed a Government-led approach, Mayor Chadwick said.

“Council hasn’t the funding to buy or build houses but we’re keen to do whatever we are able to do to help facilitate initiatives that help address housing shortages and homelessness.

“We already support the Rotorua Homeless Steering Group which is led by LifeWise, and we’re investigating the potential for a community housing trust. While the initial purpose is to finance and increase quality social housing for older people in Rotorua, a trust like this could potentially become an umbrella organisation for other collaborative social housing work.

“Complex issues like housing will require a multi-pronged approach involving multiple organisations. I look forward to hearing more about the social and transitional homes planned for Rotorua and seeing how council can be involved to make it happen,” the mayor said.

The mayor’s comments follow Associate Social Housing Minister Alfred Ngaro’s confirmation of plans for the 117 new social and transitional houses in Rotorua yesterday. He said the aim was to have 37 transitional houses available by the end of this year and 80 new social housing properties over the next three years.

“This is a statement of intent that we take the issue of housing in Rotorua seriously and that we have a plan to address the need,” he said in a statement. “We are working hard to address the current and future demands on social housing.”

The announcement was also welcomed by Rotorua MP Todd McClay who said he would be working with Rotorua Lakes Council on the initiative.

“The local economy is performing strongly and Rotorua is an attractive place to live,” he said in a statement. “People are choosing Rotorua as a place to raise their families and this has created pressure in the housing market. The solution is to build more homes and the government has shown it will partner with local communities for robust solutions,” Mr McClay said.

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