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Housing Reserve supports 115 new homes

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Everyone deserves a safe, warm, and secure home. With increasing housing insecurity, Council is committed to working alongside our community partners to provide access to quality affordable housing.

Some years ago, faced with a $20 million estimate to maintain its 142 pensioner housing units, Council made the difficult decision to sell the units to Kainga Ora for upgrading. With the proceeds of this sale, we established a $12 million Housing Reserve fund.

The purpose of the fund was clear: provide funding that would enable community housing providers and iwi trusts to build more affordable homes.

We established the Community Housing Acceleration Taskforce this term to support and speed up the delivery of these vital projects.

This fund has been a powerful catalyst. Our partners have leveraged Council grants to attract significant additional funding from government, philanthropy, and loans, multiplying the impact of Council’s investment. The projects supported by the fund will deliver more than 115 quality 1-4 bedroom homes, of which 35 have been finished and the rest planned for completion within the next 2-3 years. The final $250,000 of the reserve will support an initiative improving emergency housing access for women and children. Council will be seeking expressions of interest for this initiative shortly.

My sincere thanks to my taskforce colleagues, Councillors Matty Anderson, Kahu Paki Paki, Pete Rainey, James Hodgson, and Mayor Nick, and to our dedicated staff, Lisa Gibellini and Steve Stiles. Most importantly, my heartfelt thanks to our dedicated community housing providers and iwi trusts. Your significant work is building not just homes, but healthier futures for Whakatū Nelson whānau.

Rachel Sanson, Chair

Community Housing Acceleration Taskforce

Map showing new homes in Tahunanui and Stoke

"Ngāti Kuia, in partnership with Jennian Homes, is building five whare on Nayland Road to provide warm, affordable homes for our whānau, designed to reflect our values as tangata whenua and respond to the urgent housing needs in our region. Rooted in papakāinga principles, these whare will exceed Healthy Homes standards and foster connection through shared spaces like maara kai and communal gathering areas."

Nicki Hemi

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Kuia Trust

Pou Ruruku / Project Director

Habitat for Humanity Nelson builds affordable, good quality homes that contribute to a sense of community. We take pride in offering a mix of affordable rental and home ownership opportunities.

Thanks to incredible support from the government and Nelson City Council’s Housing Reserve Fund, we’ve completed 18 homes at Shields Way in Stoke and are busy building four more on Tipahi Street. We will soon begin work on a development of affordable rental townhouses and apartments on Rutherford Street.

Our Progressive Home Ownership (PHO) programme helps by assisting families to turn the rent they pay into a deposit to purchase their home. Over time, this means they can step into full home ownership, gaining financial stability and local connection.

By reinvesting generous funding from one home, our programme helps build the next—meaning more homes and stronger, supportive communities.

Alongside ongoing Council support, our work is powered by proceeds from our ReStores in Tāhunanui and Motueka, and the amazing generosity of local donors, volunteers, and shoppers.

Emily Baker

Habitat for Humanity Nelson Communications & Marketing Manager

“We are rapt with Council’s support for the Nelson Tasman Housing Trust. Housing Reserve grants have been crucial to our ability to accelerate building more affordable and social housing,” says NTHT Director Carrie Mozena. The Trust has used each Housing Reserve grant either to purchase land or contribute to construction costs. Since 2021, these grants have assisted four new NTHT developments - in Tāhunanui, Nelson South, Atawhai and a site near the Stoke shops (settlement this week).

Housing Reserve grants to NTHT total $3.8 million, which has leveraged at least $10 million in further funding from donors and central government. The results are four quality, affordable/social housing developments at a total cost of just over $20 million – an ROI for Council of over 540%.

These projects deliver 33 new homes for over 70 residents, ranging from young working families to older retirees. Almost one third of the homes are wheelchair accessible. All have good insulation, heating, ventilation, solar panels to reduce power costs, and are well-located on public and active transport routes for easy access to schools, shops and community services.

The benefits of NTHT housing are clear: annual surveys show over 95% of our tenants report significant improvements to their health, employment, education and sense of security and wellbeing.

Carrie Mozena

NTHT Director

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