Land sits undeveloped while housing demand continues

Land sits undeveloped while housing demand continues

When experts are asked how to deal with the housing crisis, the answer is to build more homes.

So when the land is available and you are told new houses are coming, how long should you expect to wait?

Is 15 years too long?

In Porirua, a large patch of land was once filled with state houses but then they were taken away.

New and expensive houses are being built in the new Aotea subdivision but a few hundred metres down, the Housing New Zealand and affordable houses are gone.

Outgoing Porirua Councillor Litea Ah Hoi is fighting for her people.

"What would be the purpose of selling off or privatising land, let alone the houses built on it, when there is a need for families to be in homes?" says Ms Ah Hoi.

A joint council and HNZ redevelopment programme saw the houses removed between 2001 and 2010. At the time, there wasn't enough demand in Cannon's Creek to justify replacing them, but a decade on, it's a different story.

Nearly 2000 state homes have been sold over the last four years and only 1400 built and largely in Auckland and Christchurch.

Housing New Zealand says it prioritises building where there is highest demand, and it's currently constructing more than 100 units in Wellington City.

It has no timeframe for redeveloping the site in this story but hopes to start speaking to the community in the coming months.

Story.