[xh 'It means stability': Family trades overcrowded house for own home

Part of the 95-home Kainga Ora complex on Kauika Road in Whangārei.

Regional New Zealand's biggest social housing development to date has opened in Whangārei, allowing more than 300 people to trade tents, cars or overcrowded houses for warm and stable homes.

The Kainga Ora development, on Kauika Road in the Avenues, has a total of 95 apartments and standalone houses.

It was designed to help meet the city's huge need for one- and two-bedroom homes.