Te Toi Mahana will take over Wellinton City Council’s (the Council’s) social housing services from 1 August 2023.

Te Toi Mahana was established as a Trust in February 2023 to manage the city’s social housing portfolio and became a registered charity and Community Housing Provider (CHP) in July 2023. This will enable access to Government funding so that more social housing can be built, and access to a rent subsidy for eligible new tenants.

Te Toi Mahana will become the second largest public housing provider in Wellington, after Kāinga Ora, with a portfolio of nearly 1900 homes and 3000 tenants. Te Toi Mahana is dedicated to providing safe, secure and affordable housing to our tenants in Wellington, New Zealand.

The name, Te Toi Mahana, was gifted to us from our Tākai Here (mana whenua) partners and means “the place of caring and nuturing, standing and belonging”.

Background

The Council has provided social housing in Wellington since the 1950s.

The Council’s social housing service, City Housing, had long-standing financial challenges. In June 2022, following community consultation, the Council agreed to establish a CHP to help resolve these financial challenges.

A CHP will enable:

· more new social housing to be built in Wellington

· access to the Government's Income Related Rent Subsidy (IRRS) for new, eligible tenants, improving rental affordability for tenants and financial sustainability for the Trust

· long-term resolution of City Housing’s financial challenges, at a lower cost to the Council and ratepayers.

A CHP is a regulated entity that provides social, affordable and/or community housing and is registered with Community Housing Regulatory Authority (CHRA).

The Council will still own the majority of its properties and will lease these to the CHP. The CHP will take over tenancy management, activities, and maintenance.

Current City Housing tenants will transfer across to Te Toi Mahana with all their current rental conditions, including subsidies. Most of the City Housing team will take up new roles with Trust.

As part of the set-up of the CHP, the Council will gift the CHP $10m of property and $23m funds, to help it build new social housing. A decision has not yet been made on which properties will be gifted to the CHP. A recommendation will go to the Council for discussion later in 2023.

The Council will remain responsible for delivering the major housing upgrade programme (HUP2) that it has agreed with the Government, and the delivery of Healthy Homes upgrades, on track for completion by July 2024.

Governance and Leadership

Te Toi Mahana is governed by a board of nine trustees. They are:

· Andrew Turner (Chair)

· Matthew Harker

· Carolyn van Leuven (Te Āti Awa)

· Liz Kelly (Ngāti Toa Rangatira)

· Councillor Rebecca Matthews

· Councillor Tim Brown

· Matthew Harker

· Lucy Elwood

· Louise Marsden

· Natasha Possenniskie.

The Chief Executive of Te Toi Mahana is Angelique Jackson

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