The house nobody wants

Housing New Zealand says it is considering selling this three-bedroom state house in Campbell St, Hastings, after four applicants turned it down. Photo / Duncan Brown

Housing NZ says it is considering selling an empty Hastings state house because it is in a location where applicants "do not want to live".

The three-bedroom property is located in Campbell St in Raureka, Hastings, where Quotable Value lists the median house price as $233,750.

A Housing NZ spokeswoman said the corporation had offered the Campbell St house to a number of people who had turned it down.

The spokeswoman said the house's most recent tenants had left the property at the end of September this year and since then the corporation had offered the home four times to people who required a three-bedroom property.

Three of the offers were to people on the housing waitlist and one offer was to a current Housing NZ tenant who wanted to transfer from Porirua to Hastings.

"All applicants declined the property as it is in a location that they do not want to live."

Labour Tukituki spokeswoman Anna Lorck said the Campbell St house had been vacant for about three months, despite there being 92 people on the Ministry of Social Development's housing waitlist in the Hastings district. Thirty-six of those people were listed as "Priority A," which indicates an urgent need for housing.

State housing proved a contentious issue during this year's general election, with Labour accusing Housing New Zealand of raising its eligibility criteria and selling off assets en masse, while National maintained the corporation was focused on refurbishing and relocating existing stock to meet demand.

Ms Lorck, Labour's unsuccessful Tukituki candidate in the election, said she met the Campbell St house's former tenant while on the campaign trail. But when she returned to the house after the election, the tenant was gone and the property was undergoing renovations. It had been given new carpet, curtains and a new bathroom.

"This house is all done up, so why is it empty? We have empty state houses, and we have people and families who haven't got homes.

"The street is a good street, close to a kindergarten. It's an ideal location. I am very confident that there will be a family out there in need of that home."

Housing NZ said it was weighing up putting the house on the market.

"The property is still available to let. However, we are currently considering putting the house up for sale, with a decision to be made in the new year."

Earlier this year, Ms Lorck sent an Official Information Act request to Housing NZ regarding a five-bedroom house on Lipscombe Cres, which a neighbour said had been empty for about six months. The corporation said it was considering selling the house but the property has since been tenanted.