MEDIA RELEASE

8 June 2017

Housing New Zealand and Waikato-Tainui working in partnership to deliver new homes in Hamilton East

Housing New Zealand and Waikato-Tainui are excited to confirm the upcoming redevelopment of the Jebson Place site in Hamilton East.

Housing New Zealand’s General Manager Asset Development Patrick Dougherty says carrying out the development in partnership with Waikato-Tainui is about achieving a vision of a healthy and vibrant community with a mix of Housing New Zealand homes and homes for private ownership.

“A lot of careful thought has been put into the design to ensure the new homes planned for Jebson Place are attractive and a good fit with the neighbourhood. The partnership will also provide the right types of social housing properties needed in Hamilton and increase the city’s overall housing supply.

Hamilton City Council granted resource consent in March this year for up to 71 housing lots to be delivered at the site, which includes the area bordered by Old Farm Road, Cassidy Street and Dey Street.

Housing New Zealand will build and retain at least 26 one- and two-bedroom homes on the site, responding to Hamilton’s need for additional smaller social housing properties.

Waikato-Tainui’s intention is to acquire the remainder of the site and carry out subdivision works before building affordable housing for iwi members and selling some of the subdivided lots on the open market.

Waikato-Tainui CEO Donna Flavell said work was underway to finalise the exact mix of properties that iwi will build around Housing New Zealand’s new units.

“There will be a mix of properties – some affordable and some for the open market. It was always our intention to see the redevelopment create a vibrant and diverse community”, she said.

Mr Dougherty said Hamilton City Council was also a key partner in the development.

“We’re really pleased with the support we’ve received from Hamilton City Council to get our resource consent over the line. They were very easy to work with as we discussed the proposed mix of housing types and street layout changes, and we couldn’t be happier with the result.”

He added that all the homes would be attractive, easy to maintain, fully carpeted and insulated, and filled with light. The homes would be located on landscaped sections with private outdoor living spaces.

Hamilton City Council’s General Manager City Growth Kelvyn Eglinton says supporting social housing projects is essential for the city.

“It’s important we work together with social housing providers like Housing New Zealand to help provide alternative and smarter solutions to housing issues in Hamilton. We were able to provide a flexible solution for the development of Jebson Place to have a win for all the organisations involved and, ultimately, the community.”

Infrastructure and site works for the new homes are expected to commence later this year, and the first homes are due to be completed by early 2019.

Jebson_Place__factsheet.pdf

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Q&A

What are the plans for the Jebson Place site?

All the new homes will be attractive, easy to maintain, fully carpeted and insulated, filled with light, and situated on landscaped sections with private outdoor living spaces

To enable the new homes to be built, the Jebson Place cul-de-sac will be closed and a new road layout will be established. A number of shared open spaces will also be created for the community to enjoy.

The plan provides for 12 one-bedroom and 18 two-bedroom homes along Dey Street, which would likely be converted to a one-way street to provide angle parking.

The one-bedroom homes will be spread across 6 two-storey buildings, with all ground floor units designed to be aged friendly/accessible. The two-bedroom homes will each have two storeys, with the homes laid out in a terrace configuration.

What are Housing New Zealand and Waikato-Tainui’s respective roles?

Housing New Zealand intends to build and retain at least 26 of the one- and two-bedroom homes. These are the exactly the kind of homes needed to respond to Hamilton’s social housing demand, which is mostly from smaller families and adults without children.

Waikato-Tainui’s intention is to acquire the remainder of the site and carry out subdivision works before building affordable housing for iwi members and selling some of the subdivided lots on the open market.

Why is Housing New Zealand retaining 26 one- and two-bedroom homes?

A lot of Housing New Zealand’s Hamilton stock was built in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, including the units that were originally on the Jebson Place site. In those days, Housing New Zealand built thousands of three-bedroom homes across the country for ‘nuclear families’.

Social housing is now allocated to those with the greatest need, and there have also been demographic changes to the population. The majority of social housing demand in Hamilton is now from single people, couples and small families.

As a result, around 70 percent of the people on the MSD-administered social housing register for Hamilton need a one- or two-bedroom home. However, these homes make up only 50 percent of Housing New Zealand’s Hamilton portfolio.

Housing New Zealand needs to increase its supply of smaller social housing properties in Hamilton. Building 26 one- and two-bedroom homes in Jebson Place will help to achieve this, alongside Housing New Zealand’s nearly-completed infill programme, which is delivering 43 new two-bedroom homes across Hamilton by July 2017.

Is Housing New Zealand able to meet demand for social housing in Hamilton?

Yes.

Around 99% of Housing New Zealand’s lettable properties are tenanted at any one time. However, even though we have a very high occupancy rate, properties continually become available as tenants improve their circumstances and move on from social housing.

Housing New Zealand has a total of 2,847 social housing properties in Hamilton City, and housed 261 families from the MSD-administered social housing register over the past 12 months.

When will the new homes be built?

All Jebson Place tenants have now been relocated to more suitable Housing New Zealand homes, and the last remaining buildings on the site are on track to be demolished by the end of June 2017.

Infrastructure and site works for the new homes are expected to commence later this year, and the first homes could be completed by early 2019. However, please note that building partners have not yet been selected and all redevelopment timeframes are potentially subject to change.

Housing New Zealand will be keeping the community and tenants informed as the work progresses.

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