New tenants set to move to Hamilton's former slum Jebson Place
Sunday, 1 September 2019
New life will be injected into the former slums of Hamilton's Jebson Place this week.
About 30 one and two-bedroom Housing New Zealand properties will be built at the Hamilton East section by the end of year.
It's part of a series of housing developments planned for Hamilton over the next few years.
So far, four two-bedroom units are set to go, with two of them to be tenanted within the next week or two.
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The Government was set to invest about $7m toward the build. The surrounding land will be developed by Waikato-Tainui next year and will hold about 45 homes.
The new homes were furnished with thermal curtains, double-glazed windows, carpet and were on easy to maintain sections with lots of sun.
HNZ Tenancy Liaison Officer Chloe Palmer said she had a few conversations with one prospective tenant.
The woman had been living in the same home for 13 years and was looking forward to the move.
'It makes your day when tenants are stoked and they start visualising where everything will go.
'And if you've got kids with you, they start picking out their bedrooms.
'It's very cool, especially for those who have been in an older home and have putting up with damp and mouldy conditions.'
From June 2018 to June 2022, the Government will look to deliver between 150 and 230 new homes in the city as part of the Ministry of Housing Urban Development's Public Housing Plan.
In Maeroa, 15 new homes have been recently completed, with eight more to be finished there soon, HNZ Waikato Area Manager Roxanne Cribb, said.
Housing New Zealand is steadily delivering more state housing in Hamilton to help meet the demand and more houses are planned.
And another 50 new state homes are expected to be completed in Hamilton in 2020.
'These homes range in size and include three bedroom properties, but are mostly one and two-bedroom homes,' Cribb said.
'This is to help meet the demand for these sized homes for people on the housing register.'
At Churchill Ave and Rimu Street, the 11 aging houses that were spread across a few sites will be replaced by 20 warm, dry, and modern homes.
'Alongside the delivery of more homes, we're actively working to provide better tenant care and improve outcomes for whanau living within our homes.
'We're doing this by providing the right house in the right place, and where needed, linking tenants to the appropriate support services.
'So we can help our tenants to live well in their homes we're strengthening our partnerships with a range of social service providers and other agencies. We are also seeing how we can better understand our tenants' needs to identify the type of support a household may require.'