NIUE – Tourism – and families returning to Niue – have prompted a mini housing boom on the island.

About ten new houses are being built throughout Niue which has a population of around 1600.

The government says it’s a tangible result of its investment in tourism over the last few years.

An ambitious strategic tourism plan for Niue put in place in 2014 aimed to increase its visitor numbers by 70 per cent, to 10,000 a year.

The plan proposed upgrading the internet and using New Zealand aid money for tourism on infrastructure development.

Work and education opportunities overseas have long drawn Niueans away from the island but additional flights and changes to superannuation access for Niueans living in New Zealand have been introduced in recent years to bring people back.

The secretary to Niue’s government, Richard Hipa, says the construction of new housing is a sign its investment in tourism is working.

“ Largely we are promoting the private sector and there are opportunities now in the private sector with tourism-related opportunities, so this has been a long term plan and we are starting to see the tangible results, very good results on Niue.”

Less than 2000 people live in Niue but Hipa says its infrastructure is designed to handle thousands of visitors which almost reached 10,000 last year.

He says the residing population may be small but more people are making the decision to settle and build in Niue.

This includes third generation Niueans living in New Zealand whom the High Commissioner to New Zealand, O’Love Jacobsen, says are keen to trace their origins.

“You’re looking at something like 20,000 plus Niueans living here in New Zealand and so few living on Niue – so how else can you make these people go back?

“And if this is one way of taking them back as a drawcard to bringing our people back home, they need to have somewhere to live, they need to have something to do, they need to earn some money and if this is the way that it’s heading I think it’s a wonderful thing that’s happening.”

Niue MP Terry Coe says the increased number of returning expats makes sense given the current problems in the housing market in New Zealand.

“A lot of people are having problems in New Zealand renting property so it’s cheaper in the long run to come here, build the house and not have to pay rent, water rates etcetera,that you need to pay in New Zealand.”

Coe says he’s noticed about ten new houses being built in various villages throughout the island but a broken cargo boat has delayed the delivery of materials and held up construction for nearly a month.

He says there’s no cement, timber, fittings, or wall boards and people are stuck halfway through building their houses.

“People who are coming up to build houses need to do the building and get back to New Zealand to get back to their jobs, not coming here and then having to go back and come back again when the materials arrive.”

He says shifting the supplies onto another boat or re-ordering the supplies isn’t viable and most people will just have to wait till the next boat arrives in late August. - RNZI