The government has signed a partnership with Ngāti Kahungunu to help deliver 131 homes by investing more than $45.3 million.
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The agreement signed in Wellington Thursday follows the partnership between Toitū Tairāwhiti in May and Taranaki's Ka Uruora in April this year as part of the National Māori Housing strategy MAIHI Ka Ora.
Ngāti Kahungunu Chair Bayden Barber said it how to deliver the homes would up to to the iwi.
"We have huge amounts of people living in transitional housing or our motels in Hastings and Napier, they're full of whānau that don't have a home to live in, so this will be a great opportunity to have another 131 homes available for whānau in Ngāti Kahungunu to be living in."
The new homes will be rentals and papakāinga built throughout the Ngāti Kahungunu territory.
"We've got Māori land blocks identified through Heretaunga Whanui. We've got PSGs that are doing housing up in Wairoa. From Wairoa down to Wairarapa.
"So these are our post-settlement groups entity groups. So we'll be partnering up with them, and also working with our Māori landowners around some of these locations, but they're all through Hawke's Bay."
Ngāti Kahungunu Chair Bayden Barber Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
He expected it would be some time before whānau were able to move into the new homes.
"Probably in the next couple of years, we should be seeing a whole lot of activity around, the actual physical building of whare, such as setting the foundation, and making sure that we're all over the commandments, the scale scalability, procurement, all of that detail that comes in, and major developments such as this."
Minister of Housing Megan Woods, who was at Thursday's signing, said the partnership came after the government's record investment of $730 million dollars towards Māori housing from last year's Budget.
"The housing crisis was decades in the making, and we are working hard to turn it around through our housing policy reforms, and the largest government investment since the 1970s."
Associate Minister of Housing Peeni Henare said he was committed to ensuring the investment was made in partnership with Māori, taking a by Māori, for Māori approach.
"This investment means Ngāti Kahungunu can continue to plan to build the new houses in an innovative way that will focus on an integrated supply chain through partnering with building providers, investing into off-site manufacturing and also providing training and employment opportunities for local people to help with the pipeline of housing projects ready to progress."
