Meeting puts the brakes on sale of units

There were no dissenting voices when South Taranaki district councillors found out they were about to sell off a complex of pensioner flats, and decided they wouldn’t.

In 2013, a previous council had resolved to sell the nine units in Centennial Close, Hāwera, once changes in rental arrangements allowed it to happen, but that was before the current housing shortage.

At Monday’s policy and strategy meeting, councillors agreed with advice in a report by property and facilities operations manager Phil Waite, that the complex be kept and the resolution to sell be rescinded.

The units were built in the mid-1980s as a Hāwera Centennial project to provide accommodation for pensioners whose assets exceeded the pensioner housing criteria, but were insufficient to buy a freehold property.

At the time, New Zealand was experiencing a housing shortage, and the idea was to free up family homes occupied by older people, for use by families.

Initially, the units were rented out on the basis of the tenant buying a licence to occupy, but over the past nine years, all but one of the homes have been changed to standard rental terms, with tenants who meet the housing for the elderly criteria regarding age and financial status.

Since the decision was made to sell the complex as a commercial investment once all were under standard rental, demand had increased for housing for the elderly in Hāwera, the report said.

If the complex was sold and the council opted to use the proceeds to build new units, it was likely the costs would outweigh the income, given the increase in building costs due to Covid and supply chain issues.

And the councillors all agreed, in a quick decision.

‘‘The world is quite different to when that was put in place many years ago. We need as much accommodation as we can for all age groups in our district,’’ mayor Phil Nixon said.

The decision will be ratified at the next full council meeting.