Louise Martin with her son Daniel. Photo / The Aucklander
A solo mother of three children - including a severely disabled son - has been given 90 days notice by her landlord and Housing NZ won't open her file for two months.
A heavy wooden gate is eased open and we're quickly slipped into the world of Glen Eden solo mother Louise Martin. She manages a welcoming smile, momentarily hiding her frustration.
"Come and listen to this," she says, beckoning us into the narrow kitchen, through a barricade she's built with the
side of an old cot, a bedhead and a child's safety gate. "It's to keep Daniel out," she explains, referring to her 6-year-old son, who is autistic.
She hits "play" on her answering machine and a message from a Housing NZ staff member says they've lost the copy of her eviction notice and could she bring another copy in to their office. She sighs and shakes her head.
Mrs Martin gets by on the Domestic Purposes Benefit - a solo mum of three children aged 8, 6 and 5 - in a small house she's rented for 12 years.
But, recently, her landlord gave her a 90-day eviction notice. He took Mrs Martin on as a sitting tenant when he bought the property over a year ago. He refuses to discuss the reasons for the eviction notice with The Aucklander.
During her 12 years at the address, a son taken by Child, Youth and Family died while in care. She had three more children, including Daniel and a daughter who suffers from kidney disease. Because of Daniel's condition, he requires a home with specific features. "He needs a flat section, a single-level house with no more than five stairs. And the section needs to be fully fenced, because he'll get out - and he'll just bolt," she says, recalling a day in late 2009 when Daniel climbed the childproof gate (since replaced) and scampered into rush-hour traffic.
"I'd run out and a woman screamed, `Down there', and there were 20 cars stopped and a guy across the road was just gripping him," she says.
After Daniel escaped a second time, he was assessed by Taikura Trust and assigned a home support worker through Spectrum Care. A specially designed bed was also built for him. "It's an oversized cot, really. With a 1.7m frame around it. We'd have to tape the light switch off otherwise he'd be up all night playing with it," says his mother.
Louise struggled to find a rental property to fit her family's needs and her financial constraints. She says a landlord would have to agree to modifications which would be paid for by the Ministry of Health.
She turned to Housing NZ, which she'd asked for help in the past. She says she took a copy of the eviction notice into the Henderson branch where a staff member told her her case wouldn't be looked at for two months.
Housing NZ's regional manager for West and North Auckland, Angela Pearce, says there is no standard time frame for housing people. Mrs Martin has been listed as a "high priority".
She adds, however, there are close to 400 other families in the region urgently awaiting homes.
"Louise's application is a high priority and as soon as a property becomes available that suits her needs, we will be offering it to her."
Concerned she will not find a home in time, Mrs Martin contacted the office of her local MP - Social Welfare Minister Paula Bennett - for help. Ms Bennett's office has advised Housing NZ it will look at the case if a house has not become available by early April.
