Kerikeri elderly squeezed out by soaring rents

Kerikeri pensioner Ian Marr in the home he desperately wants to stay in, but is being squeezed out of by soaring rents. PHOTO / PETER DE GRAAF

Soaring rents are squeezing Northland pensioners out of their homes and leaving them nowhere else to go.

Property prices have risen dramatically in places like Kerikeri, fuelled by an exodus of cashed-up Aucklanders shifting north. Higher house prices are now pushing up rents and forcing out some pensioners and low-income families.

Ian Marr, who is 80 and legally blind, has lived in Kerikeri for 23 years, the last seven of those close to the centre on Cobham Rd.

Until recently he paid $270 a week rent for his two-bedroom cottage. A real estate agent told the owners they should be charging $400 a week; so they put the rent up to a more modest $325 but that still leaves Mr Marr with a shortfall of $55 a week.

Every other place he had looked at cost even more. His choices were limited because he was not allowed to drive so needed to live within walking distance of the shops and doctor, and his sight made any flat with steps a no-go.

If he could drive, Mr Marr said he would happily take a cheap place out of town.

Mr Marr is planning to visit Winz again today to apply for an extra $55 a week, but he had already been told he getting all he was entitled to.

"I've paid so much tax in my life, surely they can pay the $55? I also have five tax-paying children and even my grandchildren are starting to enter the workforce."

The former teacher, milker, gardener and flower grower is on the waiting list for one of just seven council flats in Kerikeri but there was no telling how long that would take.

He had set a himself a deadline of six weeks to move out because he was "haemorrhaging money". He didn't smoke or drink, had cut bridge back to one night a week and, although a keen singer, would pull out of the Bay of Islands Singers to save the annual subs.

Far North District councillor Dave Hookway, who Mr Marr contacted for help, said the council had 48 pensioner flats in Kaitaia, 38 in Kaikohe and 10 in Rawene but just four one-bedroom units and three bedsits in Kerikeri.

Mr Hookway said he was unsure whether it was up to the council to keep providing pensioner flats after a law change in 2012 narrowed the role of local bodies.

"I don't believe that we should walk away from people, and I think the council has a role to ensure those disadvantaged in our community still have accessible and affordable housing, whether this is through us taking the lead or providing special zoning ... This is something for the community to decide, as it is the ratepayers who must foot the bill at the end of the day."

Staying socially connected was important for older people's well-being. For Mr Marr that meant being close to Kerikeri Bridge Club and RSA, Mr Hookway said.

■ If you know of affordable accommodation suitable for Mr Marr and close to the centre of Kerikeri, contact Mr Hookway on 027 543 5502 or dave.hookway@fndc.govt.nz.