Motel mayhem for local families
Seven families living in a Blenheim motel are about to be turfed out for six nights because the motel is pre-booked for paying guests.
The families, most with young children, faced time on the street if nowhere could be found for them, but a local charitable trust has managed to find alternative accommodation.
Another motel has agreed to provide five units for the six nights, while a vacant state house and a private landlord will accommodate the other two.
Crossroads Charitable Trust coordinator Janette Walker said she had been frantically calling motels and marae to find a solution over the past fortnight, while keeping the devastating news from the families until something was sorted.
‘‘I didn’t want to tell them until it was sorted, they’ve got enough to worry about,’’ she said.
Four of the households had two or more children aged under 11. Another was a pregnant woman and her partner, and three households included women fleeing violent relationships, Walker said.
The five households still without permanent homes would move back to the first motel when their rooms were free again, Walker said.
The family in the state house and the family with the landlord would stay in their new houses, she said.
‘‘The Government just needs to start building more social housing,’’ Walker said.
‘‘They’re just shifting people around, and it’s really unsettling for kids and young mums. Their lives have to be packed up into cars and it just adds to their sense of insecurity. And the cost, the cost is just huge.’’
The families were living at a motel just a stone’s throw from Brydan Accommodation on State Highway 6, tipped to become emergency housing if the Ministry of Social Development’s application goes ahead.
Housing New Zealand revealed this week it had bought 10 twobedroom properties in Marlborough in the past three months, at a total cost of $3.61 million.
Seven of those were for emergency housing, to be operated by the Crossroads Charitable Trust in partnership with the Christchurch Methodist Mission.
Three of the 10 purchases were due to be settled later this month, a spokesman said. He would not say where the properties were but they were already tenanted, he said.
Ministry figures showed 78 people on the Marlborough social housing register in June, the highest number since the record began in 2014.
Housing New Zealand drew criticism for selling 29 of its 434 houses in Marlborough between 2012 and March this year.
Six were listed for sale in March, but they were returned to the social housing portfolio because of changes in demand, national portfolio manager Monique Fowler said in May.
Housing New Zealand had not sold any more properties, the spokesman said.
‘‘No decision has yet been made on whether Housing New Zealand will consider purchasing any further properties in the Marlborough area.’’
Meanwhile, the process to get emergency housing funding from the ministry had changed. The ministry would not confirm exactly how the process had changed, but a spokesman said it was to ensure a consistent approach to decision-making across the country.
‘‘This will also help to ensure that people with the most complex needs are being proactively referred to transitional and social housing providers who can support their move into safe, stable and secure long-term accommodation,’’ he said.
Walker said the new process was ‘‘a complete and utter logjam’’.
The ministry spokesman would not say how long applications were supposed to take, or how long they were actually taking. ‘‘We endeavour to ensure that decisions are made in a timely fashion.’’