MEDIA STATEMENT

Na Raihania

Maori Party candidate for Ikaroa Rawhiti

13 June 2013

Housing help available for Gisborne whanau, says Raihania

Maori families in Gisborne on low incomes can achieve home ownership under initiatives brought about by the Maori Party, says its Ikaroa Rawhiti candidate Na Raihania in response to a report in the Gisborne Herald yesterday.

“I want all our Maori people out there, single or not, to know that by teaming up with a member or members of their whanau, they can build a home of their own."

Changes to Housing NZ's Kainga Whenua loan scheme, made possible by Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia in her capacity as Associate Housing Minister, now make it easier for Maori to build on ancestral land that has multiple owners, said Mr Raihania.

"Many Maori living in Gisborne will have interests in multiply owned Maori land and if they can get together with one or more of their family members, including those who've moved overseas or outside the region to work, they can get the finance they need from Kiwibank to build their whare."

$12 million, secured by the Maori Party in the latest Budget, was also available to Kainga Whenua loan borrowers to set up infrastructure like water reticulation, power, roading, curbs and channelling from the main road to the building site.

Under the scheme, only one borrower needed to live in the house fulltime and no deposit would be required for loans up to $200,000.

Last year the Maori Party also secured funding specifically for Māori and rural whanau in the East Coast and Northland from Housing NZ's $37.35 million social housing fund.

To date that fund has been used in the Gisborne region, by Te Runanga O Ngati Porou, to build units at Kapohanga A Rangi Marae for their elderly people who need healthy, safe and affordable housing. In Wairoa, the Kahungunu Executive ki te Wairoa, has used money from the fund to purchase houses and let them to families experiencing financial hardship.

Today Mrs Turia will be hosting a Maori housing hui at Wellington Town Hall aimed at helping Maori throughout the country achieve their housing aspirations.

A Kainga Whenua loan is secured only against the house not against the house and land as with most home loans.

ENDS

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