Building relationships before building homes
When people talk about housing developments, the conversation often focuses on the homes themselves: how many are being built, what they look like, or who will live there. But, the neighbourhood was there first.
Long before new homes are introduced, there are already people who care deeply about their community. They may feel protective of it, and many have spent years building relationships, routines, traditions, and a sense of identity there.
For new housing to be introduced well, that existing community needs to be recognised and respected from the beginning.
We asked Anna McPherson, our Community Lead, to share more about her role and how she supports both existing communities and the whānau who will call these neighbourhoods home. As Aotearoa New Zealand works to address its affordable housing shortage, community engagement has become as important as construction itself.
My Role: Listen, Connect, and Build Relationships
Ask me what a Community Lead does in a housing development and I could give you a long job description. Or I could give you the real answer.
I work with people. I build relationships. I listen. I connect people to other people. I make sure that when homes are being built, the existing community is not treated as an afterthought but brought into the journey properly.
At Te Wawata Kāinga, investing in community is not an add-on to the work. It is central to the work. The goal has never simply been to build houses. It is about contributing to a fairer housing system where quality, affordable housing enables people and communities to flourish.
Housing should create stability, belonging, and opportunity, not division.
Starting with listening
A big part of my work is making sure people are considered from the very beginning. Not as consultation after the fact, but as part of how decisions are shaped.
Before any development begins, the work starts with listening. Who already lives there? What do they value about their community? What concerns do they have? What pressures are they already experiencing?
Communities should not feel like something is being done to them without their input or understanding.
I have had conversations with residents who are not opposed to new housing. They are opposed to how the process has shown up in their street. In those moments, it is rarely about one issue. It is about a build-up of small things that were never explained or acknowledged early enough.
Once that happens, you are not solving one practical problem anymore. You are rebuilding trust.
That is why early conversations matter. They help us understand what people value, what they are worried might change, and how we can reduce unnecessary pressure as new housing becomes part of the neighbourhood.
Putting a face to the project
One of the most important parts of community engagement is putting a face to the project. Communities need to know who they can speak to when they have concerns, questions, or frustrations.
If people feel unheard or disconnected from what is happening around them, small frustrations can quickly snowball into resentment. Having visible, approachable people involved makes a significant difference. Before homes are occupied, we communicate clearly and early. What is happening, when it is happening, and what it will mean on the ground.
We give people time to respond, to raise concerns, and where possible we adjust our approach to reduce unnecessary disruption. It is not about eliminating every inconvenience. It is about not surprising people in their own neighbourhood and making sure they are part of what is coming, not discovering it after the fact.
Connecting people into the community around them
I also spend a lot of time in the community itself. Meeting with schools, early childhood centres, GP practices, community groups, council, government agencies, local businesses, MPs, and service providers.
The aim is simple. Understand what already exists so we are not placing new whānau into isolation. We are connecting them into real networks, real services, and real places that already hold the community together.
That includes looking at school capacity and enrolment pressure. Understanding whether local medical centres can take new patients and what alternatives exist if they cannot. Mapping community spaces, transport routes, informal networks, and everyday places that give a neighbourhood its shape.
It can also mean supporting local events, creating welcome packs with input from the community, working with community gardens, and holding welcome events that help new residents connect with the people and places around them.
These actions matter because they help bridge the gap between existing residents and new neighbours before people have even moved in.
This is not data collection for the sake of it. It is understanding how a community actually functions so we do not disrupt what is already working, and so new residents can be supported into it properly.
Supporting people after they move in
Once homes are occupied, the work does not stop.
We run onboarding conversations with new tenants, gather ongoing feedback, and check in on how people are settling. We look at housing experience, community connection, safety, and what is or is not working in practice. Affordable housing should mean more than a lower rent — it should mean a home where people can genuinely thrive. And when we hear something, we act on it.
And while “tenants” is often the word used, what we are really talking about are people and whānau moving into warm, healthy, affordable homes where they can put down roots, build memories, and find a sense of belonging.
We also create space for residents to shape their own community. Micro grants for local ideas. Support for resident-led initiatives. Encouraging resident groups when people want them.
Because community is not something delivered at the end of a build. It is something built over time by the people who live there.
Keeping community in the wider decision-making
Alongside this, I work across design and delivery teams to make sure the community lens is not lost in decision-making. That includes communication planning and how homes transition into occupation.
It also includes thinking about how neighbourhood design supports wellbeing, connection, and everyday life,
not just housing supply targets.
Strong communities already have strengths. The role of Te Wawata Kāinga is not to replace them, but to contribute to them.
Building more than houses
If I had to put it simply, my role at Te Wawata Kāinga is to listen and connect people so community voice is embedded in how our neighbourhoods are shaped, delivered, and lived in. Community engagement is not a box to tick. It is the foundation that everything else is built on.
The people leading housing developments have a significant influence on whether new housing feels divisive or welcomed.
These are not just buildings going up. These homes will hold first steps, birthdays, family dinners, hard seasons, milestones, and memories. The surrounding community will shape the lives of the people who live there just as much as the homes themselves.
If the goal is flourishing communities, we cannot just build houses. We have to build relationships too.
That is what my role is here to support. Making sure that as Te Wawata Kāinga grows, we are helping build places where people feel respected, welcomed, connected, considered, and at home.
