Living in a new apartment at Christchurch’s Rehua Marae will help Taylor Tuhaka save money and give her daughters an understanding of their Māori culture.

Taylor Tuhaka says living in a new apartment at Christchurch’s Rehua Marae will help her save money and give her daughters an understanding of their Mori culture.
I was not fortunate enough to have this opportunity, to grow up within these environments, so I just saw it as an opportunity for my children.
Tuhaka will move into one of six new Te Koti Te Rato apartments in a redeveloped building that was once a hostel for Mori trades training students.
The $3.3 million papakinga development in St Albans was opened by Mori Development Minister Willie Jackson on Wednesday after 10 years of planning.
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The repurposed building included two 2-bedroom units, two 1-bedroom units and two 1-bed studios, with wraparound services offered from common areas on the ground floor, including a whnau room, nurses clinic, rongo (traditional healthcare) services and the marae office.
Tuhaka said living at Te Koti Te Rato would provide more affordable and healthy housing for her whnau.
Tenants would pay 70 per cent of the market rate in rent.
Rental prices are so extreme. I lost my job to Covid, so it just got hard.
Tuhaka, a beauty therapist by trade, was working as an administrator at a backpackers hostel when the borders were closed.
Taylor Tuhaka, 30, with her daughter, Harper. Being in new affordable accommodation would help her save for a home deposit and help her daughters understand their Mori heritage, she says.
Her current rental was an older house with single glazing, and she had to run a dehumidifier all the time in winter to keep on top of condensation as her daughter had asthma.
There was little left over after paying her $380 weekly rent and living costs.
You see the total amounts [of rent] … and you think I could have paid that on my own house.
Papakinga housing developments provided a cluster of homes in a community setting, supporting tikanga Mori values, often located next to a marae.
Te Puni Kkiri, the Ministry of Mori development, committed $2.4 million to the Te Koti Te Rato project.
Jackson said more papakinga housing was being planned around the country.
Minister of Maori Development Willie Jackson and at the official opening of Te Koti Te Rato, which consists of six new rental apartments at Rehua Marae.
A 2018 study by the University of Otago found the rate of severe housing deprivation for Mori was close to four times greater than for European New Zealanders.
The former Rehua Marae hostel opened in 1966 and provided accommodation for young men and women who came to Christchurch from all over New Zealand to learn to be painters, mechanics, carpenters, joiners, chefs, and hairdressers.
Former hostel Old Boys Ash Leatherby and Hori Poi attended the opening of the new apartments and shared fond memories of their year at the hostel.
As a 17-year-old boy I was pleased to leave home, but I found another home, Leatherby said.
Te Whatu Manawa Moritanga o Rehua Trust chair David Ormsby said the development aimed to bring more whnau back to the marae to live.
This style of living will allow whnau to be on urban marae grounds and engage in a wide variety of marae activities.
In addition to Te Puni Kkeris investment, the Department of Internal Affairs provided $350,000 via the NZ Lottery Grants Board, while the Rata Foundation gave $200,000, and the Rehua Marae Trust committed a further $330,000.
Rehua Trust treasurer Andre Thompson said the housing would create a strong community for tenants.
Youre in a pure Moritanga environment here, and thats the difference between papakinga housing and just living in a house on an ordinary street.
Thompson said managing demand for the tenancies came with the territory.
Weve got six units here, and we have to be very true to the original kaupapa and ensure weve got the right people.
He said the board considered circumstances, existing connections to the marae and a desire to re-connect with Mori culture and heritage when considering tenancy applications.