23 new homes means 23 whānau who have been struggling to find a place to live will now have a warm, dry and safe home while they look for longer term housing. On Friday February 25th, a small group from Visionwest Waka Whakakitenga gathered for a service of blessing for 23 units located in Jutland and Gloucester Roads in Manurewa, South Auckland. Others watched online.
Spread over three buildings, there are 15 one-bedroom and eight two-bedroom units. The units are for transitional housing and will provide whānau coming from emergency housing or a place of homelessness with somewhere to stay for 12-weeks while suitable long-term housing is found for them. If it takes longer than 12-weeks, then the whānau can stay longer.
We have read much lately about the current housing crisis in Aotearoa New Zealand where around 1% of New Zealanders are homeless. That makes our homelessness rate the highest among the 35 high-income countries in the OECD (*The Borgen Project – September 2020). In March 2018, home ownership was at its lowest in almost 70 years. Since then, the median house price has almost doubled, and renters have faced increases of up to 25%. All in a housing market where it is getting more difficult to find a home.
With that as a background, it’s great to have this good news. Built by Kāinga Ora, the Manurewa units are to be managed by Visionwest Community Housing and will include two on-site Support Navigators to help whānau adapt to and settle into their new community.
The first families moved in on Monday – February 28th, 2022.
Click here to find out more about Visionwest Community Housing.