Northland home owner's offer rejected by Kāinga Ora

Kāinga Ora refused to lease this 1940s house offered by Guntram Gross, pictured, as it only rented properties that were built after 2000. Photo / Imran Ali

Guntram Gross has a rental property which he offered to Kāinga Ora to help alleviate the social housing crisis in Northland and the response he received shocked him.

The government agency politely refused his offer, saying it would not lease his 1940s, three-bedroom house with a sleepout with the same number of rooms on Nixon St in Whangārei as Kāinga Ora was looking for homes built after 2000.

"I was so surprised about their reasoning to disregard the inquiry that I could not believe what I was told. I am even more puzzled about the agency's mandate to provide good homes but rather spend loads of money on new developments and plans which in turn will only make matters worse.

"Isn't it about time the Government wakes up to the inadequacies and even the incompetence of its executives to make even the smallest headway in doing their job properly and earning the money they are getting paid for?"

More than 700 people are on the waiting list to get into state social housing alone in Northland.

The number of people on the Ministry of Social Development's social housing register in Northland rose nearly 83 per cent in a year and the Far North is faring the worst.

There were 716 people on the register at the end of June compared with 414 at the same time last year.

In an email to Guntram, Kāinga Ora's lease team said the government agency would not lease his property as it was looking for homes built after 2000 and those that also met its standards and criteria.

"This is because houses built before 2000 have significantly lower insulation standards especially in the walls and floors where it cannot easily be upgraded and requiring higher heating costs for our tenants, hence we focus on acquiring by purchase and lease properties built to the higher post 2000 standard.

"Additionally, the sleepout has bedrooms located directly off the living area and appears to have laundry facilities situated in the kitchen which we do not support.

"Overall, the property would create obstacles for Kāinga Ora in supporting a safe environment for our customers with young families and for Kāinga Ora to fulfil our maintenance obligations."

The lease team said just because Gross' property did not meet Kāinga Ora's criteria, it didn't mean other organisations or entities could not use it.

Kāinga Ora has 71 leased properties in Northland, 19 of which are in Whangārei.

"We politely informed Mr Gross of our decision and we won't make any further comment on this topic."

Other social housing providers the Northern Advocate spoke to said they did not make specific rules around the age of houses when it came to temporary accommodation, as long as properties met the required standards.

One Double Five Community House chief executive Liz Cassidy-Nelson said the Government should change the rules in terms of the age of houses so more social housing places could be made available.

"Kāinga Ora is only following the rules set by the Government. The barrier is the rules. It's not a housing crisis, it's chaos out there," she said.

Cassidy-Nelson said 155 would sign a lease for one year if Gross contacted her as his property had the potential to house the homeless.

Gross' decision to offer a social housing provider help showed society was getting smarter in tackling the problem of homelessness, she said.

Salvation Army in Whangārei also does not have particular rules about the age of temporary accommodation.

Community ministries team leader Trevor McLean said his team normally did property inspection for transitional houses places and submitted its reports to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development for approval and funding.

Salvation Army has 31 transitional houses in Whangārei and 20 rooms across two motels and tenants typically stay for 12 weeks.

McLean said the organisation has plans to start transitional housing in the mid north.

Habitat for Humanity ReStore Whangārei manager Alan Cowan with one of the donated 28 double bunk beds. Photo / Supplied

Meanwhile, disability and elderly home care provider TLC4U2 will provide new bunk beds for 36 Northland families this Christmas.

Twenty-eight bunk and eight single beds will be given to Habitat for Humanity ReStore charity shop in Whangārei for distribution to needy families.

TLC4U2 managing director Jonathan Harris said he decided to donate the bunk beds after seeing an article early last year about the charity and their housing services for vulnerable Kiwi families.