Sod Turning on First Trust House Ltd Housing Redevelopment
Rangitane o Wairarapa kaumatua Mike Kawana this morning blessed the site, before Housing Minister Chris Bishop helped turn the sod on the first of Trust House Ltd’s many planned housing developments, on Matai Street Masterton.
The new development will see 4 two bedroom and 4 one bedroom new houses built on a site that previously contained 2 two bedroom houses.
Trust House announced in June 2024 its long term strategy to build 300 new houses and refurbish a further 120 houses in Masterton over the next 5 years, and today’s blessing and sod-turning represents both the a physical beginning to that redevelopment programme, as well as affirmation of Trust House’s intent to achieve tangibly improved housing outcomes for its tenants. The programme will see the local community housing provider (CHP) completely transform its social housing portfolio:
- the transformation will see the replacement of older, generally 3 and 4 bedroom houses on large sections with thoughtfully designed, higher-density housing that is warm, dry, modern, and makes better use of land and meets today’s needs.
The redevelopment programme is estimated to cost $140 million, most of which will be funded by Trust House itself, supplemented by a combination of government and debt funding.
The Wairarapa is experiencing real and growing housing pressure. We have:
- one of the fastest-growing older populations in the country
- an increasing number of people on low incomes needing secure, long-term housing
- more than 200 people are currently on the Social Housing Register locally.
- there are two homeless shelters, which are unfortunately well used.
- beyond what we can easily see, there is significant “invisible homelessness” — overcrowded homes and other unsustainable living arrangements.
These are people who are already part of our community, and these developments are designed to meet that need.
Trust House in the past 12 months has geared up its internal capability, and has the financial strength to undertake its ambitious redevelopment programme. Trust House currently has no debt on its housing portfolio (460 houses), which it purchased from the government in March 1999.
Being a long-established community housing provider (Trust House was New Zealand’s first CHP in 2014), which is organised and genuinely shovel-ready to build, we were well placed to work with Government to deliver more homes and investment into the Wairarapa.
We’re pleased to announce today the Government has committed to supporting this development through a 25 year funding commitment which will help us in two ways – firstly these government dollars will assist us in building these eight new homes on this site; and secondly through the government’s commitment to income related rent subsidies (IRRS) for the tenants in these houses. This government commitment is significant, in round dollar terms it means government support for these houses and tenants over the next 25 years of around $10 million dollars.
I want to thank the Minister for his leadership and support in making this possible.
This long-term government commitment will help us to plan ahead with confidence, build more homes, reduce pressure on housing, and create a stronger, more resilient long-term social housing system for the Wairarapa. It will enable us to go further and faster with our redevelopment programme.
We are delighted to be working with Holmes Construction on this initial project, a family business established in the Wairarapa in the 1950s. This programme delivers benefits beyond housing:
- local jobs
- local suppliers
- long-term investment staying in the region
These new houses are our houses, but for our tenants these will be their homes. We are very conscious of that, and that tenant-centricity is our north star, helping inform and guide all the many decisions we make about the design and ongoing management of these houses. It’s about more than buildings, good quality, warm, dry modern and secure tenancy homes can have a profound effect on the life trajectory of the families who will live in these houses.
When people have a safe place to live, everything else becomes more possible — better health, better education, and stronger community connections.
I want to specifically acknowledge and thank Trust House Ltd Chair Mena Antonio, for whom redevelopment and improvement of our housing policy has been a long-held goal – today marks the beginning of the realisation of that aspiration.
John Prendergast
Chief Executive
Ph: 027 222 0965
Some History
Matai Street
So this site, how did we come to be standing here in 2026 celebrating the beginning of construction of 8 new social housing homes? Well it all started in the years immediately following World War 2, when in 1946 construction got underway to build state housing here on Matai Street. The houses were completed by 1948, both on this specific site but also around much of the rest of Matai Street.
One of the very early occupants of those brand new state houses was a young Bob Charles, whose parents were allocated one of the new Matai Street houses.
Fast forward 50 years to July 1998, and Rick Long – and I see Rick here this morning – in 1998 Rick was a Trustee of the Masterton Licensing Trust and he got a phone call from a friend in Tinui to let him know that the government of the day was looking at selling its state housing portfolios. And the rest is history, Rick discussed this opportunity with his colleagues at the Masterton Licensing Trust, and in March 1999 we completed the purchase of 541 state houses throughout the Wairarapa and Tararua.
Fast forward another 27 years to today, and we still own around 460 of those houses.
But our houses are now showing their age – they were built through the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s so they’re now 90, 80, 70 or 60 years old, and in need of renewal – hence our major redevelopment programme – over the next 5 years we’ll build 300 new homes, and refurbish a further 120.