Consultation on the review began 30 June and closed 5 pm, 30 July 2014.
The Council has undertaken a Social Housing Review to ensure that the tenants of social housing in our District are receiving the best service to meet their needs, now and in the future. An Issues and Options Report (PDF, 4 MB) has been developed to identify opportunities to enhance the delivery of social housing for the benefit of our community.
The Council is now seeking the community's views on the review and the identified options. While Councillors have signalled a preferred option, they would like to hear from the community on the future of its pensioner housing units.
Consultation on the review began 30 June and closed 5 pm, 30 July 2014.
- Social Housing Review Summary - (PDF, 814 KB)
The consultation process
During the consultation period, the Council held open days in Murupara and Whakatāne:
- Murupara Pavilion: 10 July from 12 - 2 pm
- Te Kōputu a te Whanga a Toi - The Whakatāne Library and Exhibition Centre: 11 July from 12:30 - 3 pm
Following this period, the Council reviewed the feedback from the community, including current Council tenants, before making a decision about which option to pursue. The Council will then include a proposal about its preferred option in the Long Term Plan 2015-25.
Why the review is taking place
The review process has been prompted by changes to the way central government funds social housing, which make it timely for the Council to review the need for social housing. The Government's current Social Housing Reform Programme is being developed to increase the provision of social housing by non-government providers and to promote greater quantity, quality and choice of social housing.
The Issues and Options Report has been developed to respond to that change in approach and consider other issues applying to social housing in the Whakatāne District, including housing affordability and a significant predicted increase in the number of residents over 65 years old.
The issues identified in the report are:
- The demand for affordable housing is set to increase
- The Whakatāne population is ageing, but there is a lack of appropriate affordable housing
- Central government reform excludes Council's accessing social housing funding
- The Council does not have a clearly-defined objective for owning pensioner housing against which to measure performance
- The greatest gap in social housing market is for providers that meet more than just tenants' housing needs
- The Council's current pensioner housing stock is ageing
The report outlines six possible options for the Council's consideration:
- Status Quo - retain current pensioner housing units
- Upgrade and/or increase the current housing stock
- Retain ownership but outsource management of the units
- Establish a local Community Trust to take over ownership of the units
- Seek improved and more affordable social housing through ownership by an approved Community Housing Provider - Council's preferred option
- Exit social housing, and sell the existing units on the open market
Copies of the Full Issues and Options report are available for download on this page. Hard copies can be inspected at Council offices and libraries.
