A collective of 13 Auckland iwi that is building 300 houses at Waimahia Inlet in south Auckland, is keen to play a big part in the development of the region's affordable housing.
Homes at the Waimahia development in Weymouth in Auckland. Photo: RNZ / Kim Baker Wilson
The average price of houses sold in Auckland has risen 20 percent in a year, with the median price now $750,000 - 10 times the mean household income of Aucklanders.
House prices that are three times a person's income are considered unaffordable.
But the Waimahia Inlet development shows how affordable community housing can be provided.
Situated in suburban Weymouth, half an hour's drive from downtown Auckland, Waimahia will be home for nearly 300 lower income households, tenants and first time buyers.
The former Crown land is now owned by the Tamaki Collective, with the not-for-profit Housing Foundation as the developer.
Some of the nearly 300 houses are for sale on the open market, others are restricted to first-home buyers.
The development also includes social housing through a range of community providers, supported by a $29 million grant from the government's social housing fund.
The Tamaki Collective also has first rights to negotiate with the government to develop further Crown land for housing.
Paul Majurey is the chairperson of the Tamaki Collective Photo: Supplied
Chair Paul Majurey said it was an exciting opportunity, and the group was keen to work on a larger scale.
"To find homes - and good homes - for our people to live in, but also the commercial opportunities that come from these types of projects - both social and affordable and commercial.
"It's the space that we've strived to be in for a long time."
Mr Majury said the iwi elders had put the collective in a leadership role to be able to realise these opportunities.
He said the collective did not yet know how the government would structure deals on land for housing.
