by Supplied

Methodist partnership achieves a social housing dream

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Twelve Hawkes Bay families experiencing housing difficulties will soon be moving into warm, safe, dry homes thanks to a partnership between two Methodist organisations, Wesley Community Action and the Methodist Church of NZ Hastings Samoan Parish.

The 12 new three and four bedroomed houses at Punavaiola – Spring of Living Water in Flaxmere are now finished and will be officially opened in March. They are being made available to people on the social housing waiting list with a particular focus on Pasifika aiga.

Work on the $7m social housing project, which is based on church-owned land in Caenarvon Avenue, began in September 2022. It is supported by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.

Minister of Hastings Samoan Parish, Rev Iakopo Faafuata, says they originally bought the land with the intention of building a youth centre. However, the growing housing crisis in Hawkes Bay made the parish rethink that idea and instead they decided to use the land to provide social housing.

They called on the expertise of Wesley Community Action, which is a registered Community Housing Provider (CHP), to help them carry out their plan. Wesley has already undertaken a similar project at Wesley Rātā Village in Naenae, Wellington (previously Wesleyhaven), where the organisation recently built 25 community houses, with another 31 apartments now planned.

“Providing social housing is a core part of our work now,” says the director David Hanna. “We know that poor and inadequate housing is a major source of social and financial stress and that building houses is a really important way of addressing this.”


He says that as a CHP, Wesley can access the funds needed to support the contribution of the local parish. Just as importantly, Wesley can also work with the parish to help build connections and a sense of belonging for the 50 or so people who will live at Punavaiola.

“For us social housing developments like Punavaiola are about more than just putting a roof over people’s heads – they’re also about creating a community.”

As with the housing development at Wesley Rātā Village, the houses at Punavaiola were supplied by Wellington modular home provider EasyBuild. They were sent by container to Hawkes Bay and assembled onsite.

David says that Cyclone Gabrielle, which devastated much of Hawkes Bay last February, created unexpected challenges for the building project, slightly delaying its completion. It also highlighted the need for more social housing in the area.

For Iakopo, the completion of Punavaiola is a dream come true. “We’re so happy that this land will now be used as a ‘spring of living water’ of God’s love to people who need help because of the growing housing crisis and the increasing cost of living.”