Hon Dr Nick Smith
Minister of Housing

15 February 2013 Media Statement
$3m boost for social housing

Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith today announced Government grants of $3.11 million have been given to help build 26 new social housing units in Auckland, Nelson and Canterbury.

“These are the first grants from the Government’s new $104 million Social Housing Fund to assist families with acute housing needs,” Dr Smith says.

“It is part of a deliberate strategy to expand the community provision of social housing to complement that provided by Housing New Zealand. These 26 units are targeted at people on low incomes and those with special needs.”

The successful community housing organisations are VisionWest Community Trust in West Auckland, the Nelson Tasman Housing Trust and ComCare Charitable Trust in Canterbury.

These organisations will contribute $3.87 million of their own money, resulting in nearly $7 million in new housing developments.

“The Social Housing Fund is part of a broad programme of reforms to increase the quantity, quality and affordability of homes for New Zealand families.

“It is not a magic bullet, but alongside our initiatives to free up land supply, reduce costs of infrastructure, improve productivity and reduce compliance costs it will help deliver more and better housing.”

The Social Housing Unit, which is responsible for allocating grants from the Social Housing Fund, will open a further funding round later this month.

Further Information

VisionWest Community Trust, Auckland
VisionWest provides short-term emergency accommodation and long-term supported housing in West Auckland. Its aim is to provide safe, healthy, affordable, quality housing for low-income families along with opportunities and resources for support in all aspects of tenants’ lives. The $1.69 million in funding it has received through the SHF will go towards building 10 homes in the suburb of Massey.

Nelson Tasman Housing Trust, Nelson
The Trust was established as a community response to declining housing affordability in Nelson and Tasman, and improves access to good-quality affordable housing to people on low to mid incomes and those with special needs. It also co-ordinates emergency housing and a bond bank on behalf of 10 agencies in the Nelson region. The $513,000 in funding it has received through the SHF will go towards building four homes in the suburb of Toi Toi.

ComCare Charitable Trust, Canterbury
ComCare helps people with mental illness and addictions live well in the Canterbury community. The Trust provides a range of social housing and mental health support services to the local community and also offers advice and guidance nationally. The $900,000 in funding it has received through the SHF will go towards building 12 homes in Christchurch.

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