May 16, 2024
Rotorua housing crisis recedes
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Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell says the number of people being put in motels and hotels as emergency housing has dropped by 60 percent thanks to the combined effort of council, government and iwi.
That frees up the accommodation for the tourism sector, which is booming.
While there have been some issues with the lack of communication from government agencies, the effect of major building programmes from Kainga Ora, Ngati Whakaue and wider Te Arawa are starting to show.
“And we have had a lot of interest and also some fantastic homes being built for whanau. I think about Ngati Uenuku-Kopako who have built homes out near Rotorua Airport. We have families that went straight from motels into there and were able to reconnect with iwi and it’s a real success story,” Mayor Tapsell says.
Up to 90 percent of those in emergency housing were Maori, and half of them were children.