Glen Innes beneficiary to be evicted tomorrow

Niki Rauti (62) has gained hundreds of supporters during her spat with the Tamaki Redevelopment Company, which want to replace the Glen Innes house as part of a development of 7500 new homes.

Supporters of a Glen Innes beneficiary facing eviction are staging a campout for the next few days.

After a High Court bid to keep her state home failed, Niki Rauti, 62, was served an eviction notice. She has been given till 10am tomorrow to vacate the Taniwha St home.

For years Rauti has been fighting, through the courts, to keep the house from a development company that wants to demolish it to make way for new homes in Tamaki.

And while a High Court judge in September upheld an earlier possession order, made in February, that gave the state house over to Tamaki Regeneration Ltd, Rauti and her supporters are not ready to give up the fight.

They have planned to occupy Rauti's house and land from this evening and plan to stay for at least a few days.

"This is the moment that NIki needs us all: she has been bravely fighting for justice, for all people of Aotearoa," group organisers wrote on its facebook event.

The house, Rauti has called home for more than two decades, is wanted by TRL's parent company, Tamaki Redevelopment Company.

It is one of 2500 homes pinpointed for demolition to make way for thousands of new ones in the coming years.

An OIA by long-time supporter and campaigner Penny Bright, last month revealed since March 2016, 77 former state houses had been demolished with two others relocated in November 2016.

In August 2017, 213 new houses had been built - of which 92 were new social houses.

But Rauti and her supporters are largely opposed to the redevelopment plans and what they said was the mass sell off of state housing.

"Hundreds have been shunted out of the community, into the private market, or into precarious and unstable living conditions," said Tamaki Housing Group, which has been protesting the development for six years.

While the TRC has offered the sickness beneficiary, who has a heart condition, a replacement home 500m from her current one these have been refused.

She has previously said alternative homes were not suitable for her needs - they were too damp or the two-storeyed homes were too difficult for her to access.

TRC housing general manager Neil Porteous said in a statement the company was "working with relevant authorities to gain legal possession of the property".

"We recognise this is a challenging time for Ms Rauti but TRC has been transparent with her about the redevelopment plans and tried to communicate with her at every opportunity."

He said the offer of a replacement home still stood.