Habitat for Humanity building homes for 33 families

Mar 9, 2021

Tuesday, 9th March 2021

This week three Hamilton families will realise a dream – to sleep in a house they will one day own. 

These families, along with 30 others, are kick starting their journey towards home ownership, thanks to Habitat for Humanity in New Zealand who has partnered with Government under the Progressive Home Ownership (PHO) programme to build 33 homes across New Zealand in the next 18 months. 

“Our vision is simple; we believe everyone deserves a decent place to live. The PHO programme is one way we can enable this to happen for low-to-medium income families, who have the ability to pay rent but for a range of reasons are unable to secure a mortgage from a bank at this point in time,” says Alan Thorp, Group Chief Executive Officer, Habitat for Humanity New Zealand.  

We are extremely proud to be working alongside these families in a practical way to help them achieve housing security and stability. Ultimately, this is about empowering them to build a solid foundation for their whānau. 

Habitat New Zealand will receive an $8.25 million zerointerest loan to partially fund the build of 33 affordable homes in the Waikato, Nelson, and Auckland regions as phase one of the Government PHO programme. 

We are excited to be partnering with the Government in a way which gives families a hand up. With almost 30 years of delivering a rent-to-own programme in New Zealand, we are one of Progressive Home Ownership’s largest and most experienced providers,” says Mr Thorp. 

We can deliver at scale and are committed to providing opportunities for more families who are struggling with housing insecurity to have a place of their own to call home.” 

Habitat selects families for the PHO programme based on their housing need, willingness to partner and potential to fulfil the requirements of the programme.  

One of the Hamilton future homeowners says this opportunity means they are able to put their hard-earned money toward their own home, and not be stuck in an endless rental cycle.  

While another says the biggest barrier they face is the ability to obtain a home loan.  

Our family needs somewhere where we can eventually settle down. If we can pay rent and pay our bills, we can definitely pay a mortgage.”  

From top, clockwise:
Te Kaarearea, three completed homes; Homes under construction – January 2021; Haygen Tautari, Piripi Matika & Anthony Warahia at Te Kaarearea Site Blessing on 5th March 2021; Completed home – March 2021; Futre Homeowner & Habitat staff at Site Blessing.

Key facts: 

  • 33 homes being built by Habitat for Humanity via the PHO loan of $8.25m, expected to be completed by late 2022 
  • Homes will be two to three bedrooms, range between 90 to 105 square metre footprint 
  • 12 homes being built in Te Kaarearea, Hamilton 
  • Three homes already completed and families planning to move in week commencing March 8 
  • Remaining nine homes are under construction and expected to be completed progressively by June 2021  
  • At least eight of the families are Waikato-Tainui  
  • 12 homes being built in Stoke, Nelson 
  • Preparatory site works are underway 
  • Construction expected to be completed by mid-2022 
  • 9 homes being built in Takanini, Auckland 
  • Earthworks to commence late-2021 
  • Construction expected to be completed by late-2022 
  • Habitat for Humanity is founding member of the KiwiBuy coalition, which also includes the New Zealand Housing Foundation, the Salvation Army, and Community Housing Aotearoa, and has been campaigning for Progressive Home Ownership since 2018. 
  • Since 1993, Habitat for Humanity in New Zealand has assisted more than 530 whānau into their own home, along with helping helped thousands more through various other programmes.  
  • 40% of families Habitat works with are Pasifika or Maori