Hon Megan Woods
Minister of Housing
A 71-apartment public housing complex opened in Onehunga today is the latest in the Government’s programme to provide
warmer, healthier homes, Housing Minister Megan Woods says.
The Kāinga Ora development in Auckland replaces 34 terrace houses with 71 new, healthy, warm and dry apartments.
“This is the kind of fit-for-purpose, multi-level public housing there is high demand for, particularly in our larger
cities,” Megan Woods said.
“A key priority of this Government is to fix the housing shortage and we have the biggest public housing programme in
decades. We are well on track to fund and deliver a pipeline of 18,350 public and transitional housing places by the end
of 2024.
“It provides people with secure, warm and dry homes, stimulates the residential construction sector, and creates jobs.”
The Onehunga complex has tenant wellbeing in mind, with a multi-purpose community space for tenants. There is also an
onsite tenancy management office to ensure support is easily accessed.
It is within a short walking distance of Onehunga town centre and public transport links. Kāinga Ora worked with
Auckland Transport to improve connectivity to the town centre, with direct pedestrian access from the site.
“These are the kinds of innovations Kainga Ora is tasked with building into developments, so people can easily access
the services and amenities they need.
“Budget 2020’s commitment to deliver 8,000 more public and transitional housing places means many more developments like
this will be rolled out in the next few years,” Megan Woods said.
Media contact: Liz Banas 021 805 845 liz.banas@parliament.govt.nz
Note for Editors:
The development in Onehunga has a mix of one-and-two bedroom homes, including seven accessible homes for people with
mobility needs. Tenants will likely include a mix of older people, those with mobility issues, small families and
individuals.
Public housing places are funded through Income Related Rent Subsidies (IRRS) which is how the Crown supports public
tenancy places.
This Government has committed new funding for 18,350 public and transitional housing places since 2018:
2018
• 6,400 new public housing places – Budget 2018
2019
• 1,100 new transitional housing places – Budget 2019 (additional to 1700 already funded when Government came into office)
• 1,200 new transitional housing places – Homelessness Contingency August 2019
2020
• 1,650 new public housing places – Budget 2020 (overdelivered against Budget 2018 target as they were being built quickly, and
funded in Budget 2020)
• 6,000 new public housing places - Budget 2020
• 2,000 transitional housing places - Budget 2020.