Work is set to resume on the Kāinga Ora Arlington development in Mount Cook, Wellington, delivering 104 social homes three years after the project was halted due to a severe budget blowout, according to Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Wellington Mayor Andrew Little.
Project Reset and Budget Redesign
The original development plan was put on hold by the then-government in July 2023, just before the election, after project costs surged from a 2021 budget of $296 million to $419 million, according to Housing Minister Chris Bishop and reporting from insidegovernment.co.nz. Minister Bishop stated that the cost escalation would have driven the price to approximately $1.4 million per apartment. Speaking alongside Mayor Andrew Little at the site, Bishop noted that the site had been sitting vacant since work stalled. “We’ve been trying to find a value-for-money solution. We can’t spend 1.3 million bucks per apartment and frankly, most people would say 300 social housing units would have been extremely high-density housing,” Bishop said. Data from insidegovernment.co.nz indicates that the revised scheme will require a significantly lower budget than the initial undertaking, drawing financial support from Kāinga Ora’s renewals initiative, which recycles funds generated by selling outdated public dwellings unfit for their purpose into modern residences tailored to tenant requirements.
Revised Housing Layout and Timeline
The scaled-back Arlington development will construct 104 social homes—about a third of the original 301-home proposal. According to insidegovernment.co.nz, the revised configuration will feature 55 one-bedroom apartments and 37 two-bedroom apartments housed within a single seven-storey building, alongside 12 four-bedroom terrace homes. Minister Bishop made it clear that he was unhappy with the prolonged stall, remarking, “We’ve just got to get development on the site, and I’ve been pretty frustrated by the lack of progress for a while.” Mayor Andrew Little added that the community has long awaited movement on the site, noting that the Government indicated to us some years ago that they didn’t think they could go through with the original planned development. Subject to the council approving a variation to its existing lease, construction is planned to begin in 2027 and finish in 2029.
Support Services and Future Site Opportunities
Alongside the housing restart, the Government announced a $6 million cash injection and grant for Wellington City Council to distribute through its community grants programme, supporting housing services for vulnerable people. Mayor Little welcomed the funding, pointing out that homelessness and rough sleeping require wrap-around support rather than shelter alone. “What we find with a lot of people who are on the streets is that it’s not just enough to provide a roof over their heads, it’s actually other support that’s needed as well,” Little said. Furthermore, Mayor Little noted that the reset opens up new opportunities for the remainder of the Arlington site; portions not utilized for the 104 social homes could be returned to the Wellington City Council to potentially accommodate additional housing from private developers and community housing providers, maximizing the utility of the well-located Mount Cook land.
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