Media Release 6 July 2006

Christchurch City welcomes Government’s housing support

An agreement with Housing New Zealand to jointly fund a new area of social housing in the suburb of Richmond is welcomed by the Christchurch City Council.

Mayor Garry Moore and Housing Minister Chris Carter today announced a partnership to build 20 social housing units on Council land at Gowerton Place.
The agreement will see each organisation contribute up to $2.44 million.

Mr Moore says Christchurch is rightly proud of way it cares for all its citizens. The Housing New Zealand partnership was the kind of arrangement the City Council wanted to see more of, he said.

“The Council has begun investigating how we can do in this area by combining resources with other agencies. We have set up a working party and the plan is for it to report back to Council later this year on how, collectively, the city can get the best results,” Mr Moore said. “Ensuring the city’s stock of social housing continues to meet society’s needs is a constant challenge and, together, I think we can make an even better job of it.

“I’d like to see us doing more deals with Housing New Zealand and with churches and other social service agencies. In some cases they have land but not the capital to develop facilities. In other cases they have the volunteers and other skills needed to run and administer facilities.”

The Gowerton Place project has been in planning for some time and it is hoped it will be fully tenanted by the end of October next year (2007). The design features single-storey units with access for tenants with physical disabilities. Resource and building consents have been applied for and comprehensive consultation in the surrounding area resulted in general support for the development.

● City Housing operates more than 2650 units in about 110 complexes around the city. Tenancies are well below market rates for similar properties. City Housing is essentially self-funding and does not require funds from rates to operate. More information about City Housing is on the Council website at www.ccc.govt.nz/CityHousing

ENDS

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