Selwyn in line to run council flats

Richard Northey of Auckland Council's seniors advisory panel said seven providers submitted bids to manage the Auckland flat. Photo / NZME.

Foundation with focus on elderly set to win contract.

One of New Zealand's biggest aged-care providers, Selwyn Foundation, is believed to have been picked by Auckland Council to take over managing the council's 1412 pensioner flats.

The decision means rents for qualifying new pensioner tenants will drop from 30 per cent of their gross incomes at present to 25 per cent of their net income, with Government taxpayers paying the difference between this and market rents.

Selwyn is also expected to link council tenants with its existing social services for the elderly, including 44 Selwyn Centres which run drop-in centres and activities at Anglican churches.

It is believed that the council will retain ownership of the 62 pensioner villages worth over $200 million, mainly on the North Shore and in West and South Auckland.

All 1542 pensioner flats on the central isthmus were sold to Housing NZ for $83 million in 2002.

But Selwyn is expected to take over managing the remaining flats because its status as a registered community housing provider will enable it to collect the Government income-related rental subsidy, which councils are barred from accessing.

The change, expected to take effect next July, caps a big week for social housing in which the Hamilton City Council sold its 344 pensioner flats to IHC-owned Accessible Properties for $23.5 million and the Government agreed to fund 508 new social housing units in Auckland, including 358 for Accessible Properties, with a $10 million upfront capital grant.

A member of Auckland Council's seniors advisory panel, Richard Northey, said seven providers submitted bids to manage the Auckland flats: British-owned Pinnacle Group and Bupa Care Services; Australian-owned Horizon Housing and Compass Housing; and NZ-owned Accessible Properties, Selwyn, and a consortium led by the Community of Refuge Trust (Cort), the NZ Housing Foundation and Te Tumu Kainga (the Maori Trustee).

Selwyn Foundation

• Founded by Auckland City Mission in 1954 to provide housing for vulnerable elderly.
• NZ's eighth-biggest aged-care provider in 2013, with 712 rest home and hospital beds and 584 retirement village units.
• Also has social rental housing at Selwyn Village.
• Provides social services for elderly in the community including 44 Selwyn Centres.