February 11, 2022
Demand swamps Kainga Ora build speed
Māori housing advocate Hurimoana Dennis says Kainga Ora’s rebuild programme isn’t keeping up with demand.
The state housing developer is under fire from National after the latest half-year figures showed the number of new builds almost matched the number of state houses demolished or sold.
Mr Dennis, whose Te Puea Marae in Mangere has helped to house more than 500 homeless whānau over the past few years, says once the people in the demolished homes are rehoused there is little left over for the 25,000 people on the waiting list.
“That’s what they’re struggling with at the moment. There are new houses on the books but old tenants are going into these homes and they haven’t quite got their heads around that stuff yet,” he says.
Mr Dennis says the split introduced by the previous government, with Kainga Ora building the houses and the Ministry for Social Development deciding who goes into them, is also causing problems.
But Finance Minister Grant Robertson is standing by the housing agency.
“I think Hurimoana and his crew have done some really good work up in Auckland but actually this Government has invested significantly in Māori housing. We have a dedicated fund to accelerate that. I think we are making good progress,” he says.