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“We are still seeing people moving into the area for various reasons.” The board decided in October 2020 to go with a higher density option, amending the concept plan to 78 lots on the 12.6 hectare section. The plan would also include emergency housing, and the board was working with the Southland Housing Action Forum and government agencies, Greaney said.
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Fiordland Community Board chair Sarah Greaney says Te Anau is open for business. Several tourism-reliant businesses in Te Anau have folded since borders closed last year because travel and international tourism stopped because of the pandemic. Slowing the development was mentioned, but never considered, Greaney said.
Kāinga Ora is the Government’s primary housing and urban development delivery arm. A Ministry of Housing and Urban Development spokesperson said there were plans to build a further 65 homes by 2024 under the Public Housing Plan 2021-2024. The plan does not identify Southland as a high-need location. The spokesperson said nine homes had been built in Southland and Otago since the 2018 Public Housing Plan was published. In March 2020, a spokesperson said the ministry intended to build 105 spaces in Southland and Otago by 2022, with 40 planned for Invercargill. Its December 2020 quarterly public housing report shows the number of applicants on the public housing register in Southland and Otago grew by 27 in the past year to reach 532.
The man’s experience is an example of how tough times are for many over 65s trying to live off the pension, with no other income. In 2020 there were 795,000 superannuation beneficiaries in New Zealand; this year the Government is expecting 826,000. Superannuation expenses are forecast to increase $969 million dollars in 2021, to $16.490b. Superannuation is forecast to cost $20.625b in 2025. Superannuants who live alone take home $847.66 a fortnight and couples take home $652.04 each a fortnight, Work and Income figures show. As of January, the median rent in Invercargill was $290, Tenancy Services data shows.
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Invercargill National MP Penny Simmonds. Stephnie de Ruyter, of Grey Power Southland, said many elderly in the south were doing it tough.