The Mayoral Forum has released the Waitaha Canterbury Regional Housing Strategic Plan, which responds to the growing need for housing solutions that better meet demand and provide greater choice.
Waitaha Canterbury Regional Housing Strategic Plan (PDF 3MB)
The plan was developed in collaboration with all Canterbury councils, ensuring a shared approach to addressing the region’s housing challenges while also reflecting each community’s unique needs.
The plan identifies three key priorities:
- Providing a wide range of housing types and tenures that suit the unique needs of the Waitaha Canterbury population.
- Increasing long term rental availability and affordability
- Advocating for fit-for-purpose policy and regulation that supports the right type of houses to be delivered in the right places.
Achieving these priorities requires the overarching advocacy support from the Mayoral Forum as well as leveraging strong links with mana whenua, central government, the private sector and community housing providers.
The Canterbury Mayoral Forum’s commitment
The plan is a record of the commitment made by the Mayoral Forum to collectively work towards housing priorities for the Waitaha Canterbury.
This collaborative work includes:
- Developing consistent messaging for councils to use when engaging with central government about ways to increase affordable housing and a wider range of rental options.
- Sharing information between Mayoral Forum members about ways to incentivise affordable and diverse housing options through partnerships with developers and funders.
- Exploring ways to better coordinate between housing and related services providers and community groups to better understand the range of housing needs and issues facing different communities.
- Finding opportunities to monitor progress against each of the priority areas.
Next steps
Further planning will determine how the plan will be implemented. This will happen in multiple different workstreams and initiatives to be delivered by the Mayoral Forum and its member organisations, as well as others.
