Ground breaks at new social housing site

Work on a new 13-home Kāinga Ora housing development in Tokoroa will begin in coming weeks following a ground-breaking ceremony at the site on 18 November.

Following Kāinga Ora purchasing the land on Clyde Street – which at the time had four vacant buildings on it – in 2022, South Waikato District Council has worked proactively alongside the agency and local iwi Raukawa to progress the project, which will grow Tokoroa’s social housing allocation by 50 percent.

“This is fantastic news for the South Waikato and a key step towards addressing the District’s housing issues, which are a contributing factor to our current levels of deprivation,” South Waikato Mayor Gary Petley said.

“Right now our District's average household income is significantly lower than the national average, meaning there is a huge need for social housing.

“As a Council we are committed to fostering partnerships like this with Government, community agencies, Iwi and other stakeholders to support affordable housing growth, which alongside efforts to grow the local economy will make a meaningful difference.”

Mark Rawson, Regional Director Waikato of Kāinga Ora, said members of the community will be in the houses by the end of June next year, with earthworks scheduled to begin before Christmas.

The homes which will occupy the area have been built off-site and will be transported in.

“This is really important for a number of families who are in desperate need of housing,” Rawson said.

“Council and Raukawa have been really huge supporters right from the start.

“We purchased this piece of land to build houses, and particularly around the topic of density and how many houses we can have on the site, Council had a role to play in ensuring it could be more than just a couple of standalone houses.

“They have looked at it from a lens of ‘what can we do to get really good housing outcomes?’.

Currently 114 people are on the housing register in South Waikato, with the new allocation set to significantly reduce that number.

Raukawa Group Manager Kouru Whakahaere, Aamer Daji, added:

“Raukawa, alongside SWDC, share a vision that all whānau in our rohe have safe, healthy, and affordable homes,” he said.

“With the support of SWDC we have several active initiatives supporting whānau towards better housing outcomes such as Ka Uruora - financial literacy towards home ownership and the Raukawa energy innovation project.

“It is important for Raukawa, as manawhenua, to tautoko the Clyde Street groundbreaking and subsequent housing developments which provide greater outcomes for whānau living in inadequate housing, particularly for our most vulnerable kaumātua and tamariki, and improve overall wellbeing of Raukawa uri and our wider community.”

In addition to the Kāinga Ora housing development on Clyde Street, earlier this year South Waikato District Council submitted a formal application to the Department of Conservation (DOC) for partial revocation of Stanley Park in Tokoroa, with a view to making the land available for housing.