Wairere Village

This is the Hamilton version New Zealand's new wave of social housing, where the central government gives way to community organisations in the provision of homes, and more importantly, affordable homes.

Wairere Village sprang from the demise of the ageing and reportedly bitterly cold state homes of Shakespeare Avenue, Enderley. Waikato/Tainui sold the land underneath to Te Runanga o Kirikiriroa, a Maori charitable trust, in 2016. Though the project was not without obstacles, planning and perseverance saw the trust's housing arm, Nga Rau Tatangi, turn vacant land into 62 homes for those who need them, with social principles at the heart of the development. Those principles are primarily affordability, sustainablility, and innovation, but also stretch towards eliminating the dependency trap and advancing the wellbeing and economic autonomy of occupants through home ownership.

Nga Rau Tatangi aims to include Pacifica in their plans, and retain some units as rentals.

Notable features of the Wairere Village project are the provision of designated and appropriate small and disability-friendly kaumatua (senior citizen) houses, the deliberate structuring of the block to provide communal areas to enhance community cohesion, and the emphasis on affordability, with the larger dwellings kept around $400,000.

When the first stage was announced in 2016, the housing crisis was in full swing and the uptake of units both for sale and for rent was lightning fast.