Ownership of the Whakatāne District Council’s 79 pensioner housing units has now been transferred to Tawanui Community Housing. All existing tenancy arrangements have continued under the same terms and conditions.

The intention to sell the units was confirmed through the Council’s 2015-25 Long Term Plan, following an earlier community consultation process and direct communication with tenants and other stakeholders. Mayor Tony Bonne says the need to protect the interests of existing and future tenants was a key factor in the decision to sell.

“Council’s first priority was to ensure that this important community resource is safeguarded so that it can continue to provide affordable, good quality social housing into the future,” he says.

“Government policy means that local authorities do not have access to social housing grants and subsidies and, importantly, that our tenants do not have access to income-related rental subsidies. Approved community housing providers do have that access and by transferring ownership to the Tawanui Community Housing Trust, we can ensure that our pensioner housing assets will be well-maintained and developed as required to meet the community’s future needs.”

The agreement to sell follows an extensive evaluation process, and Mayor Bonne says that while the purchase price of $2.5 million is less than the estimated market value of the units, this simply reflects the impact of the undertakings sought by the Council.

“From the outset, it was recognised that the conditions we required to protect the community’s interests would affect the value of the pensioner units. But this was never about money and the agreement has been structured to ensure that the Trust can continue to invest in this important service.”