Te Puke flats sale off

The Western Bay of Plenty District Council has pulled back at the last minute from selling its 70 unprofitable pensioner housing units.

The sale of 34 flats at Te Puke, 19 at Waihi Beach and 17 in Katikati to a charitable trust was expected to go ahead this week, but council chief executive Glenn Snelgrove said yesterday that the two parties could not agree on a price.

The capital value of the pensioner units is about $3.9 million. Ratepayers subsidise the flats to the tune of $60,000 to $80,000 a year, and Mr Snelgrove said the collapse of the sale would add about half a per cent to the rates bill from July 1.