A social housing review being undertaken by the Whakatāne District Council aims to address the key issues likely to affect the provision of quality, affordable pensioner housing in the foreseeable future.
Mayor Tony Bonne says the review has been prompted by changes in the way central Government funds social housing, together with the need to meet a significant increase in demand arising from a predicted doubling of the District’s elderly population by 2031.
“It’s important that the 82 existing tenants of our 79 units know that the primary goal is to secure the future of the pensioner housing service. This is all about delivering a service which upgrades and maintains the units to modern standards and has the ability to expand to keep pace with demand,” he says. “Council elected members and staff are very much aware of the sensitivities around pensioner housing, and I speak for the entire organisation when I say that any change to the current situation will only be supported if it delivers better housing standards and more affordable rents.”
A Social Housing Reform Programme being undertaken by the Government will see future support channelled through approved Community Housing Providers (CHPs), with local authorities (and Council Controlled Organisations) being ineligible for funding. “That reform potentially has very positive outcomes for social housing, but because funding would not be available to Council to upgrade or expand pensioner housing, we think it’s timely to review our service and consider whether there is a better delivery option for the future,” Mr Bonne explains.
To ensure affordability for all tenants, rents for Council pensioner units are capped at 80 percent of the assessed market value. Tenants whose only source of income is NZ superannuation can also claim an accommodation supplement. Under a CHP delivery structure, rents would be calculated to reflect each tenant’s income, with the difference between that amount and the assessed market rent going to the provider as a subsidy.
“That would generate significant income and allow the CHP to invest in improvements which would maintain units to modern standards. CHPs would also be eligible for other funding to expand housing stocks,” Mayor Bonne continues. “As it stands, neither of those funding streams would be available to our Council, and while our current rental policy guarantees affordability, it also means that without ratepayer funding input, we could not look to upgrade accommodation standards or grow the number of units we provide.”
A Social Housing Review Issues and Options Report is to be received by the Council’s Policy Committee on Thursday, and community feedback will then be sought on the future delivery of social housing in the District. “We are particularly keen to hear from our pensioner housing tenants and other key stakeholders before we make any decision on a preferred option for the future. That option would then form part of a formal consultation process.”
- Social housing review summary - (PDF, 795 KB)
- Issues and options discussion paper on social housing review - (PDF, 3.2 MB)