Government rental rules leave Wellington City Council cash-strapped with an $ 18 million bill

The wind blew through Susan Bryant’s door for weeks in the dead of winter. The problem, he said, he was told, was too expensive to fix in time. Your landlord: Wellington City Council.

But the council problem is much worse than a single draft. With tight times, the city needs to find $ 18 million it does not have to bring its housing inventory to the Government’s “healthy homes guarantee,” which legally requires all homeowners to provide warm and dry homes.

Mayor Andy Foster said a flood of costs – such as plumbing failures, problems with the library, Let’s Get Wellington Moving, and a general spike in costs – meant that council books were under significant pressure just to keep up. of the “main business”.

“We have to make some decisions to get it back on track.”

The city council is the largest provider of low-cost rental housing in the capital, owning more than 2,000 units throughout the city and charging tenants about 70 percent of market rent.

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In 2008, the council embarked on a $ 400 million improvement to its housing stock, with the government covering about half of the costs. However, most of the government funds have now been used and costs have continued to rise on the remaining work, including an increase in GST.

Councilor Fleur Fitzsimons, who has the social housing portfolio, said city council tenants had already been told they would not face a rent increase this year, meaning money for improvements should be found elsewhere.

“It is clear that a new model is needed for municipal housing financing in the city. The City Council should consider some financing rates, loans and a greater number of homes throughout the city.

“Council officials have assured me that work is underway to assess the full scope of the financial challenges and that this work will be ready for incorporation into the council’s 10-year plan.”

At the Pukehinau flats at the bottom of Aro St, Bryant wants some simple upgrades. While the workers came to fix the draft, she simply created a new draft. Her bedroom windows dripped with condensation on a cold morning.

They offered him a heat pump but he turned it down. He said he couldn’t afford the extra electricity.

After learning of the drafts from Bryant, Fitzsimons had staff investigate the problem Sunday.

Another Pukehinau resident, Sally Terry, told Stuff that she had a heat pump, but that the power had been disconnected after an unpaid bill. Despite this, she was happy.

After living in the Mount Cook Arlington apartments, before they got any better, I knew how cold and humid things could get. His Pukehinau flat was like paradise in comparison, he said.

“We’re out of there … we never have to go back to Arlington.”

The government’s healthy housing standards, which set minimum standards for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture ingress and drainage, and stopping drafts in rental properties, became law in July 2019.

They wanted to say that all private rentals, including council rental housing, must comply with the rules within 90 days of a new or renewed rental after July 1, 2021.

The council’s chief operating officer, Claire Richardson, confirmed that $ 18 million was needed for council rents to reach the standard and that money would have to be borrowed.

Preparations were already underway to meet the deadline of July 1, 2021. The entire portfolio was to meet the requirements by July 2024.

Properties that were already upgraded under the scheme started in 2008 already met four of the five healthy home standards, but some did not meet the heating one.

“The unenhanced properties meet the insulation standard, but require work on the other four standards.”