Hastings Mayor welcomes more housing for her district.

Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst welcomes today’s government announcement that more state houses will be built in the Hastings District in the next three months.

Housing Minister Phil Twyford has announced up to 155 new state houses will be ready in the regions by June this year.

The houses will be spread across 15 regions, and built on vacant Housing New Zealand land and on underutilised lots.

Hastings and Napier will be getting close to 50.

Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst says this is a good start to address a major shortage of state housing in Hastings. “I’m aware construction is underway on 40 of the Napier state houses, with some already occupied.”

Mrs Hazlehurst says the six houses being built in Hastings are on HNZ vacant land where the houses no longer exist. “It will be great to see these parcels of land being redeveloped to support our urgent need for social housing.”

“New state houses will help our residents who are really struggling to find somewhere to live. I have had people coming to Council pleading with me to help them find a house.”

Mrs Hazlehurst says there are people living in over-crowded accommodation. “Last week alone a young mum was desperate to get into her own home, as her and her 4 children were living in a three bedroom house with 12 others. I know of another recent case where a community group reported they were working with a family where 24 people were living in one house,” says Sandra Hazlehurst.

“These stories are not uncommon in Hastings and are not captured in any data. We need urgent action to help our people.”

There are currently at least 65 families living in emergency accommodation in the Hastings District.

As of December 2017, there were almost 400 families waiting for a state house in Hawke’s Bay, up from 150 two years ago.

Mayor Hazlehurst says there are a number of factors impacting on the shortage of local housing stock in the Hastings District, including:
• Population growth higher than projected
• Landlords selling to owner occupiers
• Increased demand for RSE workers accommodation
• Homes converting to Air B&B
• Increased demand for emergency housing
• Methamphetamine contamination
Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst says she’s looking forward to seeing more government announcements after June about when they will be building more state houses in the Hastings District.
“There is a need for urgent action and our council is committed to helping Government agencies to address these issues as quickly as possible,” says Mrs Hazlehurst.

ENDS

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