New house rejected by social housing agency due to shared entrance

A Dunedin couple offered to lease a new rental to the New Zealand social housing agency, below market value, to help a family in need, but was turned down because they have a shared driveway.

Property owners, in Dunedin’s suburb of Fairfield, were stunned by the decision of Kāinga Ora (formerly Housing New Zealand).

Kāinga Ora says that shared tickets “often don’t work well for our customers and their neighbors.”

The couple, who declined to be identified, had built the three-bedroom, two-bathroom home with the intention that relatives living abroad would live there.

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Their plan was halted by Covid-19 border restrictions, so they decided to rent the home to a needy family for $ 460 to $ 480 per week, roughly $ 100 less than a market rental appraisal. The suggested rent would only cover your mortgage payments, fees, and insurance.

The woman, who is studying at the University of Otago, said she approached Kāinga Ora to rent the property.

” I just wanted to cover my costs; I didn’t want to make more money. ”

He said he was more than happy to keep the rent at the same price during the proposed five-year lease, and that he would supply appliances, curtains and two heat pumps, seal the driveway and decorate the section.

She was also relaxed about potential tenants who had pets, which she knew was a major hurdle for some families.

The woman emailed a video of the house to Kāinga Ora on September 1, noting that the landscaping had not yet been completed.

A day later, he was asked to complete a criteria checklist and provide internal and external photos of the property.

Eight days later, he received an email saying that Kāinga Ora would not rent the property because the shared access “was not adequate”. No one from the agency saw the property in person.

The woman asked why a warm, dry new house with two heat pumps and modern appliances would be rejected in Dunedin, which had an older housing stock.

“I am very concerned about the housing situation for vulnerable families in Dunedin when this is the approach taken by Kāinga Ora.”

Now offering the property on the private market for around $ 500 a week.

Kāinga Ora’s national portfolio manager, Monique Fowler, said the agency rented privately owned homes in areas where the demand for affordable rental housing was high.

“We always seek to minimize any impact that the homes we rent have on our clients, stakeholders and the community at large. As a result, we have found that shared entrance arrangements often do not work well for our customers and their neighbors, ”she said in a statement.

“This is often for the same reasons that there can be problems with shared tickets between neighbors in the private market.”

Fowler said it took the agency time to complete the necessary due diligence before signing a lease. He responded to the couple’s offer within six business days of receiving the required information.

National’s candidate for Taieri, Liam Kernaghan, questioned why Kāinga Ora would reject the offer, given the government’s housing struggles.

” Either you want more houses or not. A shared driveway is an incredibly silly excuse for Kāinga Ora not to accept the offer. “

As of June 2020, 18,520 individuals and families were on the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) waiting list for social housing.

That included 218 in Dunedin, of which 193 were classified as “at risk” due to a “serious and persistent housing need that needs to be addressed immediately,” according to an MSD report.