SuperCity to get 34,000 new houses

Auckland’s supply-straitened housing market is set to be the beneficiary of an ambitious new Government building programme announced today.

Tuesday, May 16th 2017, 12:00AM

by Miriam Bell

The Government plans to build 34,000 new houses in Auckland over the next 10 years in a bid to address the city’s housing problems.

Speaking at a Property Institute event, Social Housing Minister Amy Adams said the Crown Building Project will replace 8300 old, rundown houses in Auckland with 34,000 brand new purpose-built houses.

Of the new houses 13,500 will be for social housing while 20,600 will be affordable and market houses.

Housing New Zealand will build 24,300 of the new houses through their Auckland Housing Programme.

Adams said the project was a significant undertaking and would work out to be the equivalent of three and a half new houses on every street across Auckland.

“The Crown Building Project is the Government making the most out of the available residential land it owns to meet Auckland’s social housing needs.

“These 34,000 new houses are a substantial redevelopment and construction programme on a scale not seen since the 1950s.”

The new houses will be for vulnerable families, for first-home buyers, and for the wider market, she said.

Phase one of the project, which covers the next four years, will cost $2.23 billion.

It will be funded through Housing New Zealand’s balance sheet and new borrowing of $1.1 billion that the Government has approved as part of the business case.

Phase two in the subsequent years will be funded through the market housing development part of the programme and rental returns.

Additionally, Adams said Housing New Zealand will retain dividends and proceeds from state house sales to help fund the building programme.

Because 8,300 existing houses will be demolished for the project, the net housing gain will be about 26,000.

But Adams said many of the old houses were over 40 years old, tired or had too many bedrooms.

Changing tenant demographics mean that 75% of those who need a social house these days need a one or two bedroom house.

To reflect this, the project will have a focus on building warmer, smaller and safer dwellings which will be a mixture of apartments, houses, and terraced housing.

Adams said the project was already underway with the Auckland Housing Programme delivering the first 18 houses in July 2016.

Since then, the programme has delivered 120 new social and transitional houses and 47 homes for the private market.

She was confident of Housing New Zealand’s capability to deliver and said the project has been carefully scoped and designed, is fully funded, and that builders are on site already.

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