Source: New Zealand Government
Associate Minister of Housing (Māori Housing) Peeni Henare today visited Kahungunu Whānau Services and their newly purchased 19 townhouses in Taita, Lower Hutt.
“Through the Government’s Te Kahui Māori Housing programme, Tātai Mokopuna Holdings Limited (the asset holding company of Kahungunu Whānau Services) was granted a $7.1 million Māori housing funding boost to purchase 19 townhouses in Lower Hutt, to be managed as Public Housing.
“This funding also enables Kahungunu Whānau Services to work towards establishing a Community Housing Provider to manage public homes under the Income Related Rents Scheme.
“For 50 years, Kahungunu Whānau services have supported their people through a tangata whenua response to homelessness, by providing whānau with transitional housing support through more permanent housing opportunities and have worked hard to wrap support around all the whānau they assist,” Peeni Henare said.
“As a kaupapa Māori service, they proudly extend manaakitanga to all, enabling whānau to stand in their own rangatiratanga and achieve their aspirations.
“Kahungunu Whānau Services play an important role in improving the well-being of their people; these additional 19 townhouses will enable them to do even more.
“I am proud that the partnership that has been built between Kahungunu Whānau Services and the Crown is delivering real housing benefits on the ground to the people that need the support the most.
“It’s also heartening to hear that the project has local support through ‘He Herenga Kura, He Herenga Tangata, He Herenga Whenua’ a partnership between Hutt City Council, KWS, Te Rūnanganui o Te Āti Awa; and Urban Plus Limited as the build partner.
“In 2021, this Government invested $730 million into Māori Housing to work with iwi and hāpu to build new homes for whānau. This investment and partnership is now delivering on the ground here in Taitā.
“The opening of these townhouses is another step towards the shared aspirations and goals we all have for the future of Māori housing and for the whānau of Kahungunu Whānau Services,” Peeni Henare said.
