Land purchased for new homes for people in Rotorua

Darren Toy, Regional Director for the Bay of Plenty, says the purchase of the approximately two hectare land on the corner of Malfroy Road and Ranolf Street is great news for Rotorua.

“We are excited to have secured this site for much needed new homes for people in the city most in need of housing. It’s an excellent location close to schools, community amenities, and the central city.

“We’re in the very early stages of exploring how this site could be developed for medium density public housing, and expect to offer a range of different sized homes.

“There will also be landscaped shared green spaces, off-street parking, and strong connections to the wider community.

“We are working as quickly as we can to make progress, and would expect to start work on site in 2022, subject to consents,” says Darren.

Once initial high level concept plans for the site have been developed these will be shared with neighbours, stakeholders and the wider community.

Kāinga Ora will work closely with councils around necessary infrastructure and site specific requirements for the construction of these homes, drawing on the considerable expertise and experience it has in developing land for public housing.

The site was purchased for $6.45 million, with the purchase and development of the land part of the Kāinga Ora programme across the country to increase land supply to allow the delivery of more warm, dry and modern homes.

Under the Public Housing Plan Kāinga Ora is working to deliver around 190 extra public housing places in Rotorua by 2024. Currently around 40 homes are underway in Rotorua in the construction, contract or planning stages, with expected completion in 2022.