New Zealand’s housing crisis disproportionately affects Māori in rural areas where healthy homes are in short supply and collective land ownership presents a challenge to banks.
Governments have been grappling with this issue. The previous Labour-led government committed more than NZ$730 million to Māori-led housing solutions, and an announcement this week by the current coalition government saw a $200 million investment into affordable rentals.
But Whare Ora, a community-run housing initiative in Te Tairāwhiti (East Coast), shows that innovative approaches to home ownership can be found within communities.
