Church group calls for halt of capital state housing sale

The housing agency is putting the worn-down blocks on Nuku St on the market with a deadline sale of October 21 – about two weeks before election day.

Ten organisations, including Wellington City Mission, Downtown Community Ministry, Pōneke Public Housing Futures, Renters United and the Catholic Archdiocese’s Ecology, Justice and Peace Commission, have written an open letter to Kāinga Ora chief executive Tracey Taylor urging a halt to the sale.

The letter called on Ms Taylor to withdraw the sale of 4, 6 and 8 Nuku St and work with the incoming Government to explore future public housing options.

The organisations argued that selling publicly owned properties at a time when more than 600 Wellington households are reportedly waiting for public housing raises serious questions about the long-term management of public assets, Waatea News reported.

Some of the units on Nuku St had been labelled “ghost houses” by local residents after sitting empty for up to six years. Plans for nearby Ngatiapa St stalled last year following a reset of the agency, but Kāinga Ora has since promised to redevelop that site with 37 homes.

In a statement, Kāinga Ora’s regional director for Greater Wellington, Sarah Willson, said the agency had no plans to review the sale of the properties.

“We decided to sell the properties after careful consideration and exploring several options for the site that showed it was not financially viable to deliver new social housing there,” she said.

Ms Willson said the sale money will be reinvested in new social housing that better meets tenants’ needs, and reinvesting the proceeds was an important part of its housing renewal programme.

FULL STORY

Kāinga Ora urged to halt pre-election sale of empty Wellington state houses (By Ellen O’Dwyer/Radio New Zealand via New Zealand Herald)

Housing Crisis: Community Groups Demand Kāinga Ora Halt Wellington Land Sale Ahead of Election (Waatea News)