Thursday 21 March 2013

New social housing developments to go ahead

Christchurch City Council has given the go ahead for up to 22 new social housing units to be built on vacant land in existing complexes in Spreydon and Aranui by the end of this year.

Tenders will go out next week for the design and build of between eight and 12 new one-bedroom units on the Maurice Carter Courts site in Spreydon and between eight to 10 new one-bedroom units on the Knightsbridge Lane site in Aranui.

This proposal is part of an overall strategy to repair or replace social housing units which were either damaged following the September 2010 and February 2011 earthquakes or are in the housing red zone.

Mayor Bob Parker says this is clear evidence that the Council’s social housing repair and rebuild programme is well and truly getting underway. Repairs will also be carried out on a total of 272 units by the end of this year.

Of the Council’s 2649 social housing units, 2196 remain open (83 per cent of the total number of units).

“Today’s decision is a huge step forward for the Council and is part of a concerted effort to speed up the repair and rebuild of our social housing complexes.

“The Council is committed to providing good quality social housing for its tenants. This is a piece of work that has been underway for a while and we’re now looking forward to urgently progressing these plans.”
The Council is currently looking at a number of other sites which may be available to build social housing units. It is also exploring public/private partnership opportunities to rebuild units.
The Council last year identified social housing as one of its top 30 projects for funding, further investigation and, where possible, repair under its Facilities Rebuild Plan programme.

For more information about the Council’s 30 priority projects and repairs being carried out on other Council-owned facilities visit www.futurechristchurch.co.nz

ENDS

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