Auckland City Council is expected to accept an offer next week from Housing New Zealand Corporation (HNZC) to buy nearly 1,700 of its housing units.

Over 2,600 tenants live in low-cost Council housing in Christchurch. There are 113 housing complexes located all around the city. City Housing is a self-financing unit within the City Council, which does not use ratepayers funds to operate.

Christchurch Mayor Garry Moore said that there are issues relating to the longer term economic sustainability of Christchurch’s council housing, and that the council must keep working closely with central government to ensure future sustainability.

“I am confident that the central government will commit equal resources to our city as it is doing in Auckland”, says Garry Moore.

Christchurch City Council already works in partnership with a number of central government and local agencies. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed with HNZC in 2000 (the first of its kind in New Zealand), in which the parties agreed to collaborate on the provision of local social housing solutions for Christchurch.

“At the end of the day, both the central government and Christchurch City Council have the same goals. We are committed to providing accommodation which is safe, comfortable, affordable, accessible and appropriate, to the people of our city.

The key to good social housing is that it is affordable to both the tenant and the provider, and that it is sustainable. It also must continue to be provided at no cost to the ratepayer”, says Cr Anderton.

Anderton says that the Council looks forward to continuing its strong relationship, and providing housing in partnership, with the central government.