Reassurance for pensioners
At its March monthly meeting the Tararua District Council adopted recommendations which should set the minds of residents in its pensioner flats at rest.
At issue was the condition of its 67 one-bedroom housing units. Strategy and Policy Advisor for the council Malcolm Thomas explained that many of the units needed upgrading, although all were compliant with regulations.
He said council for years had struggled to receive sufficient rental income to cover maintenance costs and some of the older units built in the 1960s needed significant upgrades.
The 2015 Long Term Plan proposed to sell the units to a registered Community Housing Provider with the hope they would access government money to upgrade them.
Some units like Hovding Court were sold but there is currently little demand.
Since 2014-15 when the decision to sell was made, some conditions on which assumptions were made have changed.
Where there were a lot of vacant units now there are none. Demand is strong for rental housing and the value of the council units has risen. Government funding is now in doubt and the sale of 13 Hovding flats put $1.2 million into council funding reserves.
With these changes to circumstances councillors adopted the recommendations to: Defer selling any more rental properties until discussions on the 2018 Long Term Plan;
Increase rents for the 2017-18 year by $6 per week to come more into line with market rents;
Install 61 heat pumps into the existing flats as part of their responsibility of being a good landlord;
Carry out $60,000 worth of upgrades to the Ruahine Flats in Woodville and the Eketahuna flats as they are vacated,
Appoint a part-time person to administer the portfolio and support the tenants.
At the end of the presentation councillors congratulated Mr Thomas on the clarity of his recommendations.