New affordable homes for Christchurch

Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith today welcomed the opening of the Hornby Project complex, an initiative being delivered by a consortium of community housing providers to provide a range of affordable housing solutions for low income Christchurch families. "The $12 million Hornby Project is a collaborative partnership between the Government, the Christchurch City Council, the New Zealand Housing Foundation, Abbeyfield, Housing Plus Charitable Trust, the Salvation Army and the Christchurch Methodist Mission. The 44-home development will include rental housing for older people, supported rental housing for a range of households, income related rent social housing and affordable rental and shared home ownership housing," Dr Smith says. "I am particularly pleased to congratulate the families moving in to their new homes today who are realising their dream of homeownership under the New Zealand Housing Foundation’s shared ownership scheme." "The New Zealand Housing Foundation is building 10 three- and four-bedroom homes at the Hornby development, all of which will be available for the shared ownership scheme or for families to at first rent and then move towards owning. Potential buyers will be able to use the KiwiSaver HomeStart grant and KiwiSaver savings towards the deposit, as the price range for these homes are between $330,000 to $350,000," Dr Smith says. "The Government is also working with the New Zealand Housing Foundation to provide affordable homes for Christchurch families at the 239-home development on former NZTA land at Awatea, where the first homes are scheduled for completion in early 2016. Five homes will be available at this site for the shared ownership scheme through the Government’s development partner Fletcher Living." "I am also encouraged to see the Salvation Army today open nine new social houses at the Hornby development for families on the Ministry of Social Development’s social housing wait list. The rent on these homes will be subsidised so the tenants pay no more than 25 percent of their income in rent and will be a valuable contribution to the city’s social housing stock," Dr Smith says. "Work is also continuing on the Government’s other housing development initiatives at Welles Street, Colombo Street, Awatea and Riccarton Racecourse. These projects will altogether provide more than 1000 new homes for Christchurch in the next few years. They comprise part of the Government’s extensive response to the loss of 10,500 houses in the Christchurch earthquakes, which also includes: the establishment of the Canterbury Earthquake Temporary Accommodation Service, over $52 million in temporary accommodation financial assistance, the provision of four temporary accommodation villages, the workers’ accommodation partnership, and the Housing New Zealand repair and new build programmes."