Twenty council pensioner flats are empty and awaiting renovation amid a housing crisis that has left some elderly people sleeping in cars and in emergency housing.

Rotorua Lakes Council has confirmed the flats are awaiting refurbishment and have been empty for between six and nine months. They require full interior refurbishment as well as double glazing.

The council had 152 flats in total, including bedsits and units in Ngongotahā, Fenton Park, Glenholme and Westbrook. Demand for the flats was greater than supply and the council closed applications as its waitlist filled.

The housing issue has been called a crisis, with the Rotorua Daily Post reporting pensioners are going hungry as they struggle to make ends meet.

Latest TradeMe figures show the median weekly rent in Rotorua last month was $540, which was up 10 per cent year-on-year.

Rotorua resident Te Mata Tarei said he understood how many his age are doing it tough.

The 84-year-old has lived in the council's Rawhiti Flats for about four years and said he counted himself lucky to have his home.

Tarei said he tried to offer others support where he could with kai and a cup of tea.

'People are struggling out here.”

Te Mata Tarei has lived in his council flat for about four years. Photo: Laura Smith.

Tarei believed the council should make getting the 20 empty homes available to be lived in a priority.

'There are a lot of people in Rotorua sleeping in their cars because they don't have a home.”

In response to seeing this need in the community, Age Concern last year bought a section of land in Ngongotahā where it planned to set up tiny homes for members.

The ballot was drawn last week and it was anticipated the three winners would have their tiny homes by June.

Age Concern manager Rory O'Rourke said it was hoped rent would not be more than $100 a week.
O'Rourke said he had been dreading the ballot because there were not enough new homes for the 10 entered members.

Speaking to Local Democracy Reporting yesterday, he said he was aware of a few empty council flats but was disappointed to hear the number was 20.

He believed the council needed to 'get a wriggle on” in getting the flats ready to be lived in.

'The housing crisis for elderly at the moment is pretty dire.”

Twenty flats would make a 'huge” dent in easing that, he said, as some people lived in vans and emergency housing.

Council's organisational enablement deputy chief executive Thomas Collé said there were 45 people on its waitlist.

As turnover in its pensioner units was low, the wait for a unit can be up to several years and it limited its waitlist to 40. It referred people to agencies such as the Ministry of Social Development to get help with housing more quickly.

'People who are placed on our waiting list are made aware that they may need to wait for several years for a unit to become available and are able to seek alternative options while on the waiting list.”

He said it had been progressively refurbishing its pensioner units for several years and nine refurbishments had been undertaken/completed this financial year (2022/23) to Healthy Homes standards.

In regards to the empty flats, he said: 'When these will be refurbished is dependent on annual budget allocations and priorities that are set through Council's annual plans.”

Budgets for the next financial year will be confirmed when the 2023/24 annual plan is adopted in June.
'Council appreciates the need and growing demand for pensioner housing and continues to work with other organisations, agencies and iwi on a multi-pronged approach to address the shortage of all types of housing in Rotorua, including pensioner housing.”

Delays in council flat repairs
Colin Hohepa takes pride in keeping his council-owned home tidy and respectable, but the 79-year-old has been left angry waiting for the landlord to fix a hole in his ceiling following a water leak.

Hohepa has lived at the Kahikatea St property for the last nine years. The retiree pays $240 a fortnight and said he spent time taking care of his home and making sure it was clean and well-kept.

Throws on couches are carefully draped, and the lawns are kept short and trimmed. But in his kitchen ceiling is a large hole, exposing pipes and, he says, letting cold air in.

'They expect you to keep the house tidy and then they leave it in a mess like that.”

The Kahikatea St council home has a hole in the ceiling since January 13. Photo: Laura Smith.

Hohepa said he called the council on January 13 to fix a leak in the wall. He said a plumber came that day, and the leak was fixed, but now a hole remained where the ceiling had been damaged and where the pipes were accessed.

He said he was told by the council there were no carpenters available.

His main concern was his health. He was susceptible to pneumonia and worried as the days got colder the draft would impact him, and believed it already had.

At a recent visit to the doctors, he was given a note to hand to the council outlining the implications the hole, and subsequent draft may have on his health.

Hohepa believed the council had a responsibility as his landlord to fix the issue.

Local Democracy Reporting contacted the council on Tuesday this week in regard to his concerns. In response, Collé said the council took its responsibility as a landlord seriously and tried to resolve issues as soon as possible.

It had taken longer than the council would have liked to secure its usual contractors for the repairs but the council contacted Hohepa on Wednesday and someone was able to visit this week.

Colin Hohepa feels he takes good care of his Rotorua council-owned home. Photo: Laura Smith.

He said the council was told of the water leak on February 9 and it was fixed that day.

Hohepa was told the area around it needed at least two weeks to fully dry before the hole could be repaired. Staff checked on the progress of that several times but did not detect any draft, Collé said.
Hohepa maintained he called the council about the water leak on January 13.

Hohepa and a family member contacted the council a handful of times, Collé said. The council received the doctor's letter on Tuesday.

'With so many units there are always repair jobs to be done and we prioritise these and work through them as quickly as possible.”

Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.