The Ranolf St and Malfroy Rd public housing development. Photo / Andrew Warner
The Ranolf St and Malfroy Rd public housing development. Photo / Andrew Warner
There have been police callouts, broken windows, yelling and disagreements. But tenants at Rotorua’s Kāinga Ora housing complex on the corner of Malfroy Rd and Ranolf St tell senior journalist Kelly Makiha the new homes have changed their lives.
Some people say they “feel like a family again” and it has helped them quit drugs and get a job.
Others say they are enduring fighting and yelling, some people breaking windows and police being called.
But people living at Kāinga Ora’s new Rotorua housing complex on the corner of Malfroy Rd and Ranolf St mostly say they are grateful for the opportunity to live in new, warm and dry houses without the fear of a landlord selling anytime they want.
There are 25 stand-alone homes with backyards and decks on the 2ha site at the moment. A further 36 homes are planned for the area between now and the end of 2025.
What new three-storey Kāinga Ora apartments on the corner of Ranolf St and Malfroy Rd will look like.
The homes still to be built are of higher density and will be made up of two three-storey blocks containing 24 one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments and three two-storey buildings with 12 one-bedroom homes.
In recent weeks, work had started on laying foundations for these buildings.
When the project is finished, there will be a total of 61 new homes on the site.
Three two-storey blocks with a total of 12 one-bedroom homes will be put on the Ranolf St and Malfroy Rd site by the end of the year.
Kāinga Ora has confirmed to the Rotorua Daily Post most people living in the 25 homes have come from Rotorua emergency housing motels.
Kāinga Ora Bay of Plenty regional director Darren Toy has confirmed there had been some issues but the overall feedback was positive and people “loved” their homes.
Toy said in a statement in response to Rotorua Daily Post questions that while no one had been evicted, it was moving one family to another home because living there “has not worked out for them and others living there”.
Kāinga Ora staff have also spoken with other families about “disturbing the peace of their neighbours”.
“The community is still new and the families are continuing to get to know each other. There are no issues due to the closeness of properties but as would be expected, it has been taking a little time for some who have been living in motels to transition to living in their own home as part of a wider community.
“For some rangatahi and tamariki that has also meant learning the need to respect boundaries and privacy within the wider housing development.”
Kāinga Ora's housing development on the corner of Ranolf St and Malfroy Rd. Photo / Andrew Warner
The Rotorua Daily Post visited the complex and spoke to residents about how they were finding their new homes.
Lethal Herewini, her husband and their four children have been in their new home for a month and are loving it.
Originally from Kaingaroa, the family had been on the public housing register for two years but were forced into an emergency housing motel five months ago when their family home in the village south of Rotorua was literally falling down around them.
She said that home’s roof had now completely caved in and it was in what she described as a dilapidated state.
She said the conditions were especially not good for her daughter, who was born with a hole in her heart.
Living in the motel meant they had hot water for the first time but it was difficult for their children, aged 7 to 15, to adjust to the cramped lifestyle.
“It was killing my children. They were running away from me.”
Herewini said despite that, her family appreciated being given the emergency housing motel because it meant the family bonded and made some changes in their lives - including the parents getting jobs.
“That’s where we wanted to become a family the most.”
She said she found it difficult to get the help they needed from the various services.
“So we relied on nobody but faith. Straight up, we as a family waited two years on the waiting list just like everyone else who applied.”
Foundations have been laid ready for three two-storey blocks containing a total of 12 homes. Photo / Andrew Warner
After two months in the motel, they got the news they could move into a new four-bedroom, two-bathroom home at the Ranolf St and Malfroy Rd complex.
“We feel like a family again. It’s somewhere to call home and not someone else’s.”
They were now working part-time for a local cleaning company.
She said it was a good feeling telling their children, “See ya, we’re off to work”. She said there had been giggles from the children and jokes made such as, “Who are you?”.
Another woman spoken to by the Rotorua Daily Post, who did not want to be named, said there had been issues with some people who had had a disagreement with another household.
She said she had also noticed broken windows and at times police were called to fights and yelling around the complex.
In response to Rotorua Daily Post questions, Toy said Kāinga Ora was aware of two issues with windows, one where young people who did not live there broke an outside pane of the double-glazed windows at one house.
More recently someone attempted to break into a house through a window, which caused the outside of the double glazing to crack. In both cases, police were called.
“These sorts of incidents can and do happen anywhere in the city. It’s really disappointing that this has happened to families settling into their new homes.”
Another tenant, who had been at the complex for more than six months and did not want to be named, said she was surprised there had not been regular property inspections.
She had rented before being in emergency housing and said it was standard practice for private rentals to be inspected thoroughly every three months.
While her house had had a standard health and safety check to inspect things such as smoke alarms, it was not like the thorough rental inspections she was used to.
“The houses are so new and nice, you’d think they’d be keeping a much closer eye on them. People could be getting up to all sorts inside and they wouldn’t know.”
In response, Toy said all Kāinga Ora homes were inspected at least once a year to check things like smoke alarms and that everything else is as it should be. Other visits may take place at other times as needed, according to its policy.
He said its housing supporting manager for whānau in those homes visited the development three to four times a week on average to check in with whānau, sort out any issues or provide support and connect people to other agencies.
What new three-storey Kāinga Ora apartments on the corner of Ranolf St and Malfroy Rd will look like.
Another man, who did not want to be named, said he dreaded the apartments being built because it would further reduce privacy and could potentially create more issues.
“If we are already having issues now, what’s it going to be like when that’s built? It might be no better than the motels.”
In response, Toy said the one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments would be for older people, couples or small family groups, many of whom preferred more compact apartment-style living with no backyard to maintain.
A dumped shopping trolley at the Ranolf St and Malfroy Rd housing complex. Photo / Andrew Warner
When the Rotorua Daily Post arrived, there were two dumped shopping trolleys on the footpath and in a garden beside the road inside the grounds of the complex.
Toy said, in response to a question about whether grounds checks were made, its housing support manager checked for dumped trolleys when doing their checks each week and took any from inside the complex to the street for collection.
“Since additional fences have been installed for our houses and gardens which front to Ranolf St, there has been less dumping by others of trolleys and rubbish at the development.”
Toy said there’s been lots of positive feedback from whānau living at the complex who were “loving” their new warm homes and the stability it provided them and their family.
He said children and young people were enrolled in local schools and health centres and other support agencies were able to better support whānau now they were in stable and permanent housing.
“We are working with our community partners and others to help build a community among the residents. Now we have a greater number of families living in the neighbourhood, we are checking in with them around what will best meet their needs.”
One initiative happening in the shared community space on site was art classes for children and young people who lived in the neighbourhood, Toy said.
Prior to Kāinga Ora buying the site, it had been empty since 1988 after previous owners’ plans, including building a church and a high-end housing complex, did not eventuate.
