Govt to support Auckland City Mission’s social housing project

The Government will provide $27 million to help Auckland City Mission build a new 80-unit complex in the heart of Auckland to house some of the city’s most vulnerable people, Social Housing Minister Amy Adams has announced.

“We want all New Zealanders to have somewhere warm and safe to stay and we are determined to do all we can to provide those sleeping rough with the support they need to lead better lives,” Ms Adams says.

“Auckland City Mission have unveiled a $75 million project, which will help those in need and provide permanent accommodation for rough sleepers and vulnerable Aucklanders.

“It will be a base from where essential community and social services can be delivered, ensuring wraparound support for people with complex needs so we can help address the causes of their homelessness,” Ms Adams says.

Auckland City Mission will redevelop its central Auckland premises into 80 new studio and one-bedroom units. The first three floors will house the Mission’s services and the rest of the building will contain housing.

“The Government will provide $27 million in funding towards the project, with the Auckland City Mission and wider Auckland community contributing the remainder of the cost,” Ms Adams says.

“The Government will then provide ongoing operational funding through the Income-Related Rent Subsidy, taking the total Government funding to around $78 million over 25 years.”

The new complex will start next year and is expected to be completed mid-2020.

“This project is a result of the Request for Proposal issued in July last year. Chris Farrelly and his team at the Auckland City Mission do extraordinary work supporting some Auckland’s most vulnerable and we are very pleased to support them as they extend their reach to even more people in need,” Ms Adams says.

The new complex comes on the back of 150 chronic rough sleeping Aucklanders already having been helped off the streets in the first months of the $4.7 million Auckland Housing First Initiative - a collaboration between the Government and Auckland Council which will help 472 chronically homeless Aucklanders in two years. The Government has also announced today an expansion of Housing First to help another 500 rough sleepers in centres like Tauranga, Christchurch and Wellington and an expansion of the Auckland programme.

ENDS

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