Mrs McGinniss said they had been through a similar scenario "and I just thought, ho-hum, here we go again".
Their biggest worry was a private operator coming in and immediately lifting the rentals up to unaffordable levels.
"If they lifted rentals to private market levels that would be unfair for pensioners like us, certainly on the incomes we have," Mr Pratt said.
Both he and Mrs McGinniss said they loved living where they were. It was a quiet, secure area and, most importantly, affordable.
"I wouldn't move from here unless we absolutely had to," he said.,
Mrs McGinniss said the general consensus in their Walter Nash flats was that no one wanted to leave their homes.
"If they did up the rents then most of us would have to go to Winz to get some sort of supplementary payment to cover the difference," she said.
They said the current rent levels were enough to make living there comfortable.
"We can't save up to go for an overseas trip but the rental levels mean we can live comfortably here," she said.
Mr Pratt said the council never seemed to be anxious to fill vacant units either.
"There are two across the road from me that have been vacant for months. And the one I'm in was empty for more than a year before I came in. You think it would be their interest to get it tenanted as soon as it became vacant but they don't," he said.
Council oversees 275 pensioner flats in 16 complexes and 11 relocatable granny flats. Single units are rented for $99 a week and double units for $124 weekly.
Selling between a third and half of the units could realise $2 million to $3 million, which would repay current debt on the portfolio ($1.6 million) and finance improvements to the remaining units.
The Government has indicated pensioner housing is not a core role of local authorities and is providing incentives for community organisations to get involved in pensioner housing.
Earlier Grey Power Wanganui fired a shot at the plan, saying the sale of all the units was going too far although it did say selling some of the hard-to-rent units could be supported as long as that money went into upgrading the remaining units.
The council said retaining the flats and borrowing to cover the operating deficit was not its preferred option.
Ms Main said in her personal view councils were not the best organisations to provide social housing and that there are specialist providers who are able to offer a greater range of services to people as they age.
"We are committed to ensuring pensioner housing is available and continues to be affordable to older people with limited income in our community. However, we cannot afford to keep funding pensioner housing in the same way so we need to look at other options," she said.
She said the council tried to have the flats break even each year but there were not enough funds to cover all maintenance and improvements.
Without some additional funds through borrowing or ratepayer assistance, the pensioner units would become increasingly run down, making them less attractive to current tenants and future tenants.
Public submissions to the plan close on April 29. Submission forms are available online at www.wanganui.govt.nz or from the Municipal Building.