Idle state houses get new life
First they were too big and now they’re too small but soon, according to Housing NZ, four empty houses in Porirua City will be just right.
The properties have been empty for four years, the last tenants relocated so the houses could be earthquake proofed – something Housing NZ now says they didn’t need.
Ten months after the agency tried to sell the three-bedroom houses because the demand was for smaller homes, it now plans to remodel the properties into accommodation for larger families.
Porirua City mayor Mike Tana said he was disappointed to hear about the houses. ‘‘People need homes and to have houses empty for years is not acceptable.’’
The Gear Tce properties were advertised to investors in September 2016 but were removed from the market after 24 hours.
At the time, a Housing NZ spokeswoman said the demand was mainly for one and two-bedroom homes. ‘‘However, in response to changing demand we’ve taken them off the market and are reconsidering how we use them.’’
This week, a spokesman said there were now plans to remodel the properties for larger families.
‘‘[The properties] were assessed for potential quake proofing in May 2014. At that time, it was determined they didn’t need that work.
‘‘Also at that time, there was no demand for that type of property [three bedrooms] so the decision was made to sell.’’
But Zarella Rhyder disagreed, saying there were plenty of Porirua people who would have taken a three-bedroom home during the last four years.
Rhyder was relocated from her Gear Tce home for earthquake strengthening and said she would have loved to have stayed.
‘‘If there was nothing wrong, they should have been rented. There’s a housing crisis going on, everyone knows that.’’
Labour MP Kris Faafoi said there appeared to be ‘‘no rhyme or reason’’ as to what was happening with the houses but they shouldn’t be empty.
‘‘The number of Emergency Housing Grants are going up and continue to go up while taxpayers are paying and empty houses and empty land sit idle.’’
Faafoi said he expected an announcement about a new devel- opment on vacant Housing NZ land on Castor Loop, that had sat vacant for seven years, to be made soon.
‘‘If they think people are going to be sucked in months before an election when the Government has sat on their asses for seven years, then they’re wrong.’’
Associate Minister for Social Housing Alfred Ngaro said the Government committed $354 million for emergency housing to provide 2150 emergency and transitional housing places last year.
Housing NZ’s March report said that of the 1832 vacant homes across the country, 87 were in Porirua. It classified 23 were for sale, 29 were under repair and 13 were meth affected. There are 2649 state homes in the city.
According to latest figures, 79 people were waiting for social housing in March 2017. A thief stole a New Zealand painting from under its owner’s nose in Sydney. The large painting, estimated to be worth up to NZ$209,000, by New Zealand artist Colin McCahon, was stolen on Sunday while the owner was moving house. The painting, entitled Comet, is of a darkened night scene and is more than a metre high.
A man has been shot by Nelson police. The man, 34, was now in a stable condition, police said. He was arrested on outstanding warrants for unrelated incidents. He has also been charged with unlawfully being on a property. The incident began when a police patrol noticed a vehicle being driven erratically about 1.15am on Friday and signalled for the driver to stop. When the vehicle pulled over, the driver ran off, police said. A police dog tracked the man to a nearby address. The man told the dog handler he had a gun and armed officers were called. Superintendent Mike Johnson said that as police entered the property they were challenged by the man, who appeared to be carrying a gun. Police fired a shot, hitting the man in the elbow.
One person has died after a crash near Dunedin. Emergency services were called to State Highway 1 at Waikouaiti, about 40km north of Dunedin, shortly before midnight on Thursday. The crash involved one vehicle with one occupant.
Two people have died in a single-car crash in the lower North Island. A police spokeswoman said the crash happened about 7.20pm on Thursday on the rural Pryces Line, between Halcombe Rd and Makino Rd. A police statement said the two occupants of the car died at the scene, southeast of Marton, Rangitikei, in a ‘‘tragic accident’’.