November 10, 2013
Funding changes positive for Maori homes
Changes to the Kainga Whenua housing scheme are being welcomed as a way to get more out of the Maori housing dollar.
The scheme, which allows whanau and hapu to borrow money from Kiwibank for developments on multiply owned ancestral land, will in future also apply to land that has come back from treaty settlements.
Victoria Kingi from Mangatawa Papamoa Blocks in the Bay of Plenty. which has built housing using a range of schemes, says lifting of the requirement for homes on papakainga to be relocatable is particularly helpful.
Being able to build on a concrete pad saves several thousand dollars in building costs and allows passive energy design.
"If your building is north facing you can polish up your concrete, it can look really nice. You've got the sun coming in heating that conrete pad so that it's releasing heat throughout the house when the kids come home after school. It just opens the options for us. It makes them easier to build, they're better maintenance wise and I think its a fantastic move that our ministers been able to secure alongside Kiwibank with these new crtieria," Ms Kingi says.
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