‘A broken promise’: Govt to sell land earmarked for 90 affordable homes

Monday, 21 July 2025

The 3.68ha on Quaifes Rd, Halswell, was to be developed for housing, but the Government will instead sell it.

The Government is planning to sell a large chunk of land in Christchurch’s fastest growing suburb, previously earmarked for 90 affordable homes.

Christchurch City Council sold 3.68ha at 66a Quaifes Rd in Halswell to the Government in 2023 for $6.5 million, as part of the Kāinga Ora Land Programme. It was the first land programme purchase in the South Island.

The development was going to provide a range of housing choices for people at “all stages of life”.

The programme was aimed at delivering different types of housing in areas where the private market may struggle to meet housing needs.

Megan Woods, then minister of housing, said it was anticipated the site would be developed to include a range of housing options at different price points, as well as public housing. Early estimates suggested it could have provided around 90 homes.

“Ultimately this purchase will provide a range of housing choices for people at all stages of life, from first home buyers right through to those looking to downsize, by improving affordability for people wanting to live in Halswell,” Woods said.

Housing Minister Chris Bishop says the Quaifes Rd development will be “divested”.

But in a response to a written question in Parliament by Labour list MP Tracey McLellan on Friday, the Government confirmed the development would not be going ahead.

“I am advised by Kāinga Ora Homes and Communities that it is no longer looking to develop this land parcel and that it will be divested in the near future,” said Housing Minister Chris Bishop.

The “divested” Quaifes Rd property is one of the casualties of a countrywide sell-off of Kāinga Ora land.

Last month, Kāinga Ora announced it would halt more than 200 housing developments and sell around a fifth of its vacant land.

A total of 212 projects were found to not meet financial requirements or not be in suitable locations. The announcement marked the latest stage of the Government's reset of the housing provider.

The Press asked Housing Minister Chris Bishop about the decision, but the questions were referred to Kāinga Ora.

Labour list MP Tracey McLellan says the Government has broken its promise to the community.

“As part of the wider Kāinga Ora reset, Kāinga Ora was asked by the Government to explore options for the sites purchased under the Land Programme,” a Kāinga Ora spokesperson said.

“The decision has now been made to divest our site at 66 Quaifes Road, and we are currently working through this process.”

At the time of the sale, Kāinga Ora’s Canterbury regional director Liz Krause said Halswell was an “ideally-located suburb”.

Halswell is one of Christchurch’s fastest growing residential suburbs.

“For those who will eventually live at 66a Quaifes Road, their home will be close to shops, healthcare providers, employment, education, public transport, and is within walking/cycling distance to many amenities,” she said at the time.

McLellan said there were hardly any affordable options for people to get a “foot in the door” in Halswell and many people were being “priced out”.

“For young people in particular, who have grown up in Halswell and would love to buy their first and stay there, there’s hardly anything around in that affordable range… If left to the market, that’s not what’s being produced.

“It’s a broken promise to a growing community.”

The suburb has rapidly grown in the past decade, with a population of more than 18,000 in 2023, compared to less than 11,000 in 2013.

According to OneRoof the current median sale price of a home in Halswell is $821,000 - a 36% increase in the past five years.

McLellan said the development was a “rare opportunity” to provide the right type of housing for the community.

“It’s disappointing that the Government don’t have the foresight to look at Halswell and go ‘what’s a good thing we could do here?’. Instead they’re just going to flog their land off… It’s a dumb thing to do, to be quite frank.”