Claim council rental had faeces, cat urine, cigarette smoke stench

INVERCARGILL

FAECES smeared on the walls, the stench of cat urine and stale cigarette smoke.

This was what a former homeless woman said she was greeted with when she walked into her Southland District Council [SDC] rental for the first time about two years ago.

The Invercargill woman, who wished to remain anonymous, contacted the Otago Daily Times following the SDC’s decision to put on hold spending $50,000 on a business case for its community housing.

The renter, who is elderly and living in one of council’s 69 units, said the money would be better spent on managing the properties correctly.

After being on the waiting list for nearly three years while she lived in a rotting caravan, she finally got council’s attention.

‘‘I cried on the phone to them and only got in after begging,’’ she said.

‘‘They wouldn’t tell me how many people were on the waiting list, but I kept ringing because I was so desperate.’’

When she arrived at the property, she was disgusted to find faeces on the walls, fat dripping from the range hood, peeling 1970s wallpaper and an unbearable stench.

‘‘The filth was indescribable.

‘‘I told them [SDC staff] it was disgusting and they made me cross out my comments on the contract about it being disgusting.’’

In desperation, she reluctantly signed the agreement.

‘‘I remember thinking I cannot live in this dirt.’’

Till this day, she kept cupboards and the front door wide open to cope with the smell of cat urine and cigarette smoke from previous residents.

While the council had funded some repairs, she had paid for several things, including for some of the rooms being painted, a range hood and curtain racks, she said.

‘‘Everything is halfdone by council.

‘‘We all [SDC housing residents] have experienced issues to some degree.’’

She said she knew of people who were in dire need of housing and could not understand why there were council properties untenanted at present.

SDC manager property services Kevin McNaught said the council sought to ensure its properties came up to healthy, adequate living standards.

‘‘As properties are vacated, and before they are tenanted again, they are cleaned thoroughly and refurbishments are undertaken where required.’’

The council owned 69 units, situated in 10 areas.

Of those, 52 units were tenanted by pensioners and five were vacant.

Ten people were on the waiting list at present, and there had been seven inquiries which fell outside the council’s criteria.

Those would be considered once the eligible waiting list had been exhausted, he said.

All properties were on an annual maintenance schedule, and funds were allocated in the longterm plan for projects such as roof replacement and exterior and interior painting.

‘‘If a maintenance situation arose such as where a plug was identified as not working after the tenancy commences, they are fixed in a timely manner once advised by the tenant.’’

At a meeting last month, councillors expressed their concern over the potential $50,000 spend on the business case and argued they had enough inhouse knowledge at the council to decide on its future — including whether or not to divest from it.

❛ I cried on the phone to them and only got in

after begging