The first sod has been turned at a new Housing New Zealand site in Avondale, Auckland, which will turn 10 homes into 102.
The new site on St Georges Road was purchased from Auckland Council's Panuku Development, and the 10 houses on site will be turned into 102 new dwellings on the 10495sqm site.
Those will be comprised of eight buildings containing 26 one-bedroom, 62 two-bedroom and 14 three-bedroom dwellings.
Work on the project here began during former Housing Minister Nick Smith's reign, but new minister Phil Twyford says the government has "picked it up and we're going to continue with it".
"The site was demolished in October last year," Mr Twyford said, "on a site where there were ten old 1940s, cold, damp homes, there's now going to be 102 new modern, warm, dry dwellings".
"This is the exciting new face of public dwellings ... I think you'd expect to see more than 340 people living on this site."
While today marks the ceremonial "sod-turning" on the site, Auckland Council estimates that actual construction will begin in the second half of 2018.
SHARE ME