Public housing agency Kāinga Ora says it’s pausing a development that would have seen 15 new one-bedroom walk-up apartments built at a site in east Auckland.
The new homes would have been situated at a property in Pakuranga Road adjacent to Fairburn Reserve and over the road from Pakuranga Plaza.
They were initially intended to be ready for tenants to move into in October this year.
However, an update on the Kāinga Ora website states the project is “currently on hold pending future budget decisions”.
The Times asked the agency why the development has been paused and when it expects to be able to announce if it’s going ahead or is being cancelled.
Kāinga Ora regional director central and east Auckland John Tubberty says: “We are continuing to work our way through decisions about future social housing development with a focus on priority locations and best value for money.
“We expect decisions on where we will deliver houses through to June, 2026, will extend into the middle of this year.
“In relation to the site at 105 Pakuranga Road this site remains under assessment and as decisions are made we will continue to keep the community and stakeholders informed.”
The coalition Government has made numerous changes to Kāinga Ora since coming into office, including commissing an independent review into the agency and installing a new board.
Housing Minister Chris Bishop recently said that under the previous Labour Government, Kāinga Ora had easy access to debt, “hundreds of millions of dollars allocated to it, and was asked to do everything from urban development, infrastructure grants, a shared equity scheme, first home grants, specified development projects, as well being a landlord to and looking after tenants”.
“Despite billions thrown at it and billions borrowed, the waitlist quadrupled under the last government.
“It is critical that Kāinga Ora is a highly performing organisation, not just for the Crown’s books, but for the people it houses and for the communities it operates in.”
The Times revealed late last year that Kāinga Ora was planning to build more than 70 new homes in neighbourhoods across east Auckland.
With its Pakuranga Road project on hold, that number has fallen.
It’s building, or has completed, new homes in Bucklands Beach Road and Gills Road in Bucklands Beach; Cascades Road, Cardiff Road, Opal Avenue, Reeves Road, Edgewater Drive and Aurea Avenue in Pakuranga; and Gossamer Drive in Pakuranga Heights.
