Why is this important?

Paekākāriki faces acute housing pressures, reflecting district-wide issues identified in Council’s Housing Needs Assessment. There is a lack of secure, affordable housing, and a lack of housing options. Land values are high, and there is limited capacity for large-scale development due to lack of septic infrastructure.

 

We are increasingly seeing three and four-bedroom homes bought by older, richer, single or two-person households. More and more homes are empty, as they become weekend retreats for Wellingtonians, or short-term accommodation. Fewer rentals are available. All this is compounded by very low numbers of social housing in Paekākāriki, with only three houses providing income-related rent (all Ngāti Toa owned).

 

High housing costs have meant families have had to leave, families are fragmented and those with a long connection to Paekākāriki cannot return or bring their family members here. The school roll is down (meaning the loss of teacher funding) and Paekākāriki has the lowest number of elderly per capita on the coast because there are very few smaller dwellings here; those that are here are trapped in unsuitable housing. Young adults must leave the village when they’re ready for independence, because there are very few options for ‘flatting’.

 

The impacts of all this are particularly affecting mana whenua whānau, kaumātua, those on low incomes, ‘creatives’, families that have split, and young people. The lack of choice and disconnection to our community has profound effects on all aspects of their life - causing stress and desperation and negatively affecting wellbeing.

 

Paekākāriki Housing Trust recognised the benefits of encouraging and supporting property owners to build additional one and 2-bedroom dwellings, as a way to address these needs.