Social houses to be sold off

Hundreds of state and council homes in Horowhenua and Kapiti that are almost all occupied are being put up for sale, with prospective buyers being lined up this week.

The Government and Horowhenua District Council are looking to sell off 364 houses in a plan that will have information sessions for potential buyers held in Levin and Wellington this week.

They will include 151 Housing NZ homes in Levin, 21 in Foxton, 70 in Otaki and seven in Shannon.

The homes are almost all occupied, and their tenants are mostly elderly, single people or single parents.

A joint information document released in the leadup to the meetings said HNZ and the council were ‘‘jointly seeking a community housing provider to deliver social and affordable housing in the Horowhenua District and Otaki’’.

‘‘We intend to transfer all of Horowhenua District Council’s 115 community housing properties and 249 of Housing [NZ’s} properties to a community housing provider who can bring fresh thinking to how tenants are supported and properties are managed.’’

Lyle Walker, a Housing NZ tenant in Temuera St, Otaki, who shares his three-bedroom home with his partner and six children, said he did not know about any potential sale of the house, and was concerned about what that would mean for them.

‘‘They could just turn around and say, ‘Look, you don’t meet the criteria’.’’

The family have lived in the house for five years, after shifting up from Porirua. They were encouraged to do so by HNZ because there were so many empty state homes in Otaki.

‘‘You could just, boom, get a house. This whole street was empty.’’ Now, he said, almost all the houses were taken, and it was hard to find any others available in Otaki.

Labour leader Andrew Little said the properties might be sold to social housing providers, but ‘‘anyone can register as one’’.

‘‘Despite a housing crisis and families being forced to live in cars and garages, National is forging ahead with its ideologically driven plan to hock off thousands of state houses throughout the country.’’

At the last round of meetings for state house selloffs in Invercargill and Tauranga, 40 per cent of those expressing interest were banks, consultants, law firms, companies and lobbyists, Little said.

A joint written statement from Treasury and the council said the houses would only be sold to a new provider ‘‘if it results in better services for tenants’’.

If a sale went ahead then a new provider would not be in place till sometime next year.

‘‘It’s important to note the potential transfer of councilowned and Crown-owned properties is a proposal only.

‘‘Any decision to progress to a procurement process will depend upon the outcome of the current consultation with iwi and hapu, as well as market sounding.’’

Both Housing NZ and the council have written to tenants, and would ‘‘continue to keep them informed throughout the process’’, the statement said.

HNZ’s sale portfolio in the area has 249 properties exclusively for social housing. They have a 98 per cent occupancy rate.

There are 127 Horowhenua District Council tenants, comprising 14 couples and 99 singles. They are at 96 per cent occupancy.