The Christchurch City Council is to add three new one bedroom flats for the elderly at Berwick Courts and have them ready to occupy by the middle of 2014.
The council plans to build 25 one and two bedroom social housing units over the next year, within existing council complexes. They will be funded initially through the council’s Housing Development Fund, which contains nearly $30 million.The new units will be rented out for $140.60 for a single-bedroom unit and $178.50 for a two-bedroom one.
Singles, couples and older people will welcome this news. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find suitable accommodation as many of the new properties on the market are three and four bedroom, particularly in new residential areas.
Building will then have to ramp up sharply between 2014 and 2018 as the council has plans to build 447 new housing units over a five year period. This will go a long way towards replacing 113 units lost in the residential red zone alone.
