Iwi may buy more state houses

10:41 am on 24 August 2015

Ngāti Ranginui is considering whether it can purchase a larger cut of the state housing stock earmarked for sale in Tauranga.

State house in Titahi Bay, Wellington.

Some typical state houses Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson

Of the 1140 Tauranga state houses to be sold off by the Government, 115 of them have been set aside for Ngāti Ranginui to buy through its Treaty of Waitangi negotiations.

The Ngā Hapū o Ngāti Ranginui Settlement Trust said it was undergoing feasibillity studies for those properties, but it was also concerned about the rest of the state houses in its rohe.

Trust chair Te Pio Kawe said it was a negotiation process with Treasury and the Crown to identify how the iwi could move forward with the 115 properties, and then how it could move forward on the balance of the properties.

Mr Kawe said as with most iwi, the financial compensation from settlement wasn't enough to cover everything.

He said the iwi needed to work through opportunities to find appropriate investments into it.

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