Five affordable homes supported by Council’s Housing Reserve
28/04/2023 1:27pm
A new housing development in Tāhunanui, funded in part by Nelson City Council's Housing Reserve, was officially opened earlier this month.
In April 2022, Nelson City Council granted $850,000 to Nelson Tasman Housing Trust (NTHT) to develop five affordable homes on Muritai Street.
This grant was matched by a private philanthropic donor, with further donations contributed by Nelson Pine industries and the community.
Now, one year later, all five of the warm, dry, energy-efficient homes have been built, ready to be occupied by tenants.
Nelson Mayor Nick Smith, Councillor James Hodgson, NTHT representatives, and others gathered to celebrate, and Mayor Nick, NTHT trustee and former Deputy Mayor Judene Edgar, and NTHT Tenancy Manager Tanya Rich planted a tree to mark the ocassion.
At the unveiling of the new housing, Mayor Nick said the homes are an awesome achievement by the Nelson Tasman Housing Trust.
“Affordable housing remains one of Nelson’s most difficult challenges but we should be enormously proud of the Nelson Tasman Housing Trust team who I have worked with as a local MP, Minister of Housing and now Mayor. I rate them as the best community housing provider in the country. Getting these five new quality homes in Muritai Street for a project cost of just $2.4 million ($480k/home) including land reinforces how good they are.”
What is Nelson City Council's Housing Reserve?
Council's Housing Reserve was established in November 2020 following Council's sale of 142 community housing units to Kāinga Ora.
In October 2021, it was announced that $2 million of the Reserve would open for applications to allow for a rapid response to the urgent need for housing.
Since then, grants totalling $3.85 million have been allocated over the past year to both the Nelson Tasman Housing Trust and Habitat for Humanity Nelson.
This leaves $8.15 million in the reserve which will now be made available to support and enable community housing providers and iwi trusts with a presence in Nelson to deliver an enduring supply of social and affordable housing in the city.
