New social housing for quake-hit Christchurch

Social housing in Christchurch has been given a boost with the opening today of 15 new units in Aranui.

The Aldershot St development, one of six major developments under construction in the area, is a great example of Housing New Zealand and the local community working together, Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett says.

“Aranui was particularly hard-hit by the Canterbury earthquakes, but this also gave HNZ the opportunity to replace many of its properties with modern, fit-for-purpose homes to help rejuvenate the area,” Mrs Bennett says.

The Aldershot St development, which was officially opened today by HNZ and the Aranui Community Trust, features 10 two-bedroom homes, three three-bedroom and two four-bedroom properties.

“This development is part of HNZ’s overall social housing rebuild across greater Christchurch and is a great result for the strong relationship between HNZ and the local community,” Mrs Bennett says.

HNZ is building 108 new homes in the Aranui area to replace 97 properties that were demolished following the Canterbury quakes. These will house more than 270 people.

HNZ completed its programme to repair 5000 damaged Canterbury homes last November. So far, 479 new houses have been built and another 221 are under construction.