Minister says more investment to be made over the next four years
Māori development minister Willie Jackson said that the government’s Māori housing network repair programme is making “positive changes” for the community, delivering critical repairs to 1,471 homes in three years.
“Everyone deserves to live in warm, safe, and healthy homes regardless of where they are and I am very proud of the work that our government is doing in rural Aotearoa to enable this to happen,” said Jackson. “The programme works – I’ve seen it first-hand in Kaingaroa, where 145 homes were in poor condition and consequently maintenance and repair of the village infrastructure was desperately needed.”
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Jackson added that $140 million of the $730 million overall Māori housing investment would be set aside for the Māori Housing Network over the next four years to build new papakāinga housing and undertake critical repairs to over 700 existing houses.
“The housing crisis has particularly impacted Māori, with whānau disproportionately living with serious housing deprivation, affecting health, employment and other wellbeing outcomes,” Jackson said. “We will continue to partner and invest with Iwi in Māori-led housing solutions. A ‘by Māori for Māori’ solution works, Kaingaroa proves it.”