Gisborne houses lying idle

NO-ONE HOME: There are 40 state houses in Gisborne that have been empty for at least 12 months, figures released by Housing New Zealand reveal. Twenty-seven of the houses have been empty for more than three years. Picture by Paul Rickard

TWENTY-seven of the 38 Housing New Zealand (HNZ) state houses around the country that have been empty for three years or more are in Gisborne, official HNZ figures show. Of the 27 empty Gisborne houses, 16 are “pending sale”.

An HNZ spokesman, asked to explain the Gisborne situation, said some Gisborne properties identified for sale were on land subject “to first refusal arrangements, which means we must first offer it to iwi”.

“If iwi decline the offer, then we will consider whether the property might be suitable for sale through our home ownership programmes.”

The HNZ figures for Gisborne show four houses have been empty for at least 12 months because of methampetamine contamination (including two for three years or more), 26 are empty because of pending sale (including 16 for three years or more) and there are 10 “other” empty houses (including nine that have been empty for three years or more).

Unexpected spike in demandThe HNZ spokesman said there had been an unexpected “big spike” in demand for social housing in Gisborne in September-October of last year.

“We closely monitor and respond to increases in demand for social housing."

Houses scheduled for sale were “pulled back” in response to increased demand, he said.

Ministry of Social Development figures for the quarter ended December show there were 114 requests in Gisborne for social housing. Sixty-eight are priority A, meaning they are people who are considered “at risk” and include households with a severe and persistent housing need that must be addressed immediately.

The other 46 on the list are classed as priority B, people who have a “serious housing need” and include households with a significant and persistent need. There were six requests in Ruatoria.

The HNZ spokesman said there were fewer vacant state houses across New Zealand in the most recent quarter, December 2016, compared to the September 30 statistics.

“The number of properties previously earmarked for sale is reducing all the time as we bring them back and re-tenant them. In the quarter ending December 30, 2016, the overall occupancy rate of our properties nationwide increased from 96.3 percent to 96.7 percent, which compares favourably with other landlords.”

Labour's take on itThe above HNZ figures, which show there are nearly 2500 empty state houses houses across the country, including more than 500 that have been empty for at least 12 months, were released to Labour leader Andrew Little. Of those long-term vacant state houses, 254 are empty pending sale. Others are in need of repairs or upgrades. Mr Little criticised the Government for selling state houses at a time of housing shortages.

“Why on Earth is Bill English leaving state houses empty while he tries to sell them? We should be building houses, not leaving the ones we do have vacant. There are nearly 5000 families waiting for state houses, up by more than a third in the past year.

“With the housing shortage growing by more than 40 houses a day, the very least Bill English could do is get those houses filled straight away. Labour will build thousands more state houses and end National’s policy of taking a dividend out of Housing New Zealand, as part of our comprehensive plan to end the housing crisis,” said Mr Little.