In its biggest single push ever to put Native Hawaiians into homes of their own, the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands yesterday announced a transfer of lands from other state departments that will offer about 3,500 families a chance at ownership within several years.

A total of 1,800 acres on O'ahu, Maui and the Big Island have been moved from the control of the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Housing Community Development Corp. of Hawai'i to DHHL, with more exchanges expected to follow soon.

If those other deals happen, DHHL hopes to provide a total of 6,000 Native Hawaiians with residential leases in the next five years, nearly equaling the 7,200 leases the agency has awarded since it was created 83 years ago, according to Micah Kane, DHHL chairman.

"This will go down in the history of Hawai'i as one of the most important land transfers to us," Kane said of yesterday's action.

A change in philosophy on DHHL developments led to yesterday's breakthrough, which broke a logjam that has stymied this most important of Native Hawaiian entitlement programs and left as many as 20,000 Native Hawaiians languishing on a waiting list for homes — some of them for decades.

"We are moving forward on lands that have been stagnant for years," Kane said. "We will create economic opportunity with construction, have a tremendous impact on affordable housing, provide homes for people who normally would not have that opportunity, fulfill our commitment to Native Hawaiians and build communities that will impact the lives of generations to come."