Future housing

Building communities and creating liveable areas is about ensuring that a range of housing types and price points are available for a diverse population, and that this housing is supported by quality community infrastructure, open space and recreation areas.

It’s when all of these things are planned for collectively, that we can create great places that have a strong character and sense of community.

1

The challenge

Like many other parts of the country, being able to provide good quality affordable housing is a major challenge facing the Future Proof sub-region.

Without affordable housing that meets the needs of all communities, the potential for the sub-region to thrive in the long-term will be limited.

2

Planning ahead

Future Proof is committed to supporting thriving towns and villages that embody the multi-faceted concept of creating places where people can live, work, play, invest and visit.

We’ll do this by knowing our communities, and by providing options that meet our diverse community needs.

3

Future Proof is committed to...

Providing Maaori housing choice such as enabling papakaainga and other housing options that enable Maaori to express their cultural traditions and norms.
Supporting the development of marae as an important tool for community resilience and reconnection with ancestral land.
Providing smaller, more affordable housing options for the elderly.
Providing a range of rental options for migrants and other non-homeowner groups.
Supporting the work of the Waikato Housing Initiative on integrated affordable housing options.
4

Our settlement pattern

We’ll also achieve thriving and affordable communities by implementing the settlement pattern recently adopted in the Future Proof Strategy.

The sub-region’s settlement pattern determines greenfield areas that are suitable for future growth as well as creating a compact urban form with a range of housing densities.

This not only means we will be able to provide more affordable housing options. It also means our people will be able to live closer to key community, education and health facilities and will have options to get around, without the need for a private vehicle. And long-term, it’ll be even easier for our people to get around due to the introduction of rapid and frequent public transport networks.

5

Our eyes are on the target

We expect to see the shortfall of affordable housing be eliminated through additional new builds coming to market priced below $700,000.

The following table shows the number of new builds under $700,000 (in today's prices) needed to address the forecast insufficiencies of affordable housing.

The negative numbers indicate when there will be a surplus of new builds being provided in that time period.

By Year: 2025 2032 2052
HCC 2,180 7,420 22,900
WDC DC 810 1,280 5,080
Waipā DC 610 -1,250 -960
Total 3,600 7,450 27,020
You can read more about the Future Proof growth management approach in the Future Proof Strategy. You can read a variety of Housing Development Capacity reports and other relevant documents here.