7 June 2017
Wellington City Council seeks to develop new social and affordable apartments
Mayor Justin Lester has announced that Wellington City Council will seek to partner with developers and community
housing providers to redevelop inner-city buildings into new social and affordable apartments.
Speaking to the Community Housing Association Annual Conference, the Mayor announced Council would be working with
building owners and community housing providers on developing the new approach.
“Housing is the biggest issue facing our city right now and we need to take bold action. That’s why we’re looking at a
new way of providing homes in the central city,” he says.
“We’ll be going out with a request for proposals later in the year. Our approach seeks to convert existing underutilised
buildings into new apartments. I expect some will be social housing managed by community housing providers, others will
be affordable rentals targeted to the lower end of the market.
“We’ll work with buildings owners and developers who can provide refurbished space. This means we will be able to
retrofit existing inner city buildings and turn them into warm, safe, dry apartments.
“This approach is already used by some developers to retrofit buildings into hotels or student accommodation. We want to
support this to happen for affordable rental housing.”
The Mayor says that where there is a market failure, the Council will work with building owners to catalyse development
including ensuring long-term leases and fast tracked processes for the project.
“Our aim is for more Wellingtonians to be able to afford to live in the heart of our city. We’ll provide more housing
options for people who need it, and add vibrancy to our central city.”
Deputy Mayor and Council Housing Portfolio Leader Paul Eagle says the plan is expected to pay for itself over the
lifetime of the project.
“We’ll look to partner with Community Housing Providers who could manage the tenancies for social housing and seek to
access Income Related Rent support to help people into homes.
“Costs will be dependent on the number of housing units we can get developed under the initiative. But it is expected
that the housing provided will be cost neutral for ratepayers in the long-term, as building owners will pay for the
refurbishment and tenants will pay for rents.”
“There’s a real need for more good quality, affordable rental accommodation in the city and this plan will make it
happen,” he says.
For more information Hayden Munro 0272366966
Question and Answers:
What’s the approach?
Council will be seeking requests for proposals from community housing providers and the private sector for partnerships
to develop affordable rental and social apartments in the inner city. We will also consider the role that City Housing
could play.
Where there are market failings for repurposing of existing buildings into warm, safe, dry apartments, Council will look
to provide long-term incentives to make it cost and risk effective, this could include options such as special
consenting processes or long-term leases.
The rentals will be targeted towards the affordable end of the market and each apartment complex will include social
housing.
Several providers have already used this model for hotels or student accommodation, and we want to repurpose it for
affordable and social rentals.
How does it work?
Council will negotiate a market rate with the building owners with fixed inflation-based rental increases so that
rentals remain affordable.
It means the building owners are guaranteed long-term tenants of high quality and with an ability to pay. In exchange
this will help provide the affordable and social housing the city needs.
To help the conversions happen quicker, Council would provide case managers and a one-stop shop for the consenting
process.
For the social housing component, we will work with community housing providers, who can access income related rents.
Different developments might include different mixes of social and affordable housing.
Just like with the 750 homes project we announced earlier in the year, this is about building more social housing in
mixed developments – so people can feel at home as part of strong communities.
We’ll be looking to develop 1 and 2 bedroom units in buildings above 67% of the National Building Standard for seismic
performance.
Why do we need it?
This is an innovative housing solution for a city that is relatively constrained in our ability to grow out – we need to
grow up as-well and that means greater intensification in the inner city. Affordable apartments are a great way to do
this.
It’s significantly cheaper and faster to repurpose an existing building than it is to find the land and build entirely
new apartments.
This adds to the vibrancy of our central city and makes urban living available to more people.
It also helps address another issue in Wellington – the relatively low quality of much of our private rental stock.
We’ll be the only Council in the country proactively adding warm, dry, affordable rentals for people in the private
market, as well as further increasing the supply of social housing.
This initiative sits alongside the action we’ve already taken on housing – 750 new affordable and social housing units,
a $5000 rates rebate for people building their first home, one-stop shop for council consents to speed up the process.
How much does it cost?
Costs will be dependent on the number of housing units we can get developed under the initiative, but it is expected
that the housing provided will be cost neutral for ratepayers in the long-term, as building owners would be expected to
pay for the fit out and tenants would cover the rent costs.
ends