A workshop next month will be the next step in determining the future of Whanganui District Council's pensioner housing portfolio.
As part of its 2015-25 10-Year District Plan, council decided that there were other non-profit community groups better placed to manage the pensioner houses but more importantly provide greater care for the tenants in those units.
The workshop comes at a time when the Horowhenua council and Government have joined forces to find a provider to look after that council's 115 flats along with 249 state houses in Foxton, Levin and Shannon. The union underlines central government view that pensioner housing is not the domain of local government.
Whanganui Mayor Annette Main said a working group had been looking at this issue and it included representatives from local organisations with an interest in community housing.
"This group was formed as a result of our proposed plan in 2015 to move similarly to Horowhenua," Ms Main said.