Wairarapa’s first batch of new state houses will be finished in April, Kainga Ora has confirmed.
The 18 homes built on Iorns St, Masterton. The region hasn’t had state-owned houses since they were sold to Trust House more than 20 years ago.
This will be the first of 50 Kainga Ora houses to be built in Wairarapa – 30 in Masterton, and the remaining 20 in Greytown and Woodville.
The second development in Masterton on George St will have 12 homes. Construction started in November last year, with some to be completed by the middle of this year, and the rest in mid-2024.
The Greytown development is expected to start construction in late 2023 and be completed in mid-2024.
The Woodville development is still in the planning stage, and construction or completion dates are yet to be confirmed.
Ministry of Social Development [MSD] had 168 applicants on the housing register in Wairarapa, as of December 2022.
Of those, 18 are in South Wairarapa, 132 are in Masterton and 18 are in Carterton. Six Wairarapa applicants are Priority B, which indicates a serious housing need, including households with a significant and persistent need.
More than 100 of the applicants need a one-bedroom house, 42 need two bedrooms, 18 need three bedrooms, and three need a four-bedroom house.
The customers will be placed based on needs, but the senior housing waiting list is unlikely to see the first slice of the pie due to the Irons St development being primarily two-story homes.
Because the homes being delivered in April are two-story, they are unlikely to be suitable for senior housing.
The houses would have a mix of layouts, including those which could be made accessible with a few changes. Of the 50 homes being built, eight will be one-bedroom homes, 24 will be two-bedroom homes, and 18 will be three-bedroom homes.
