36 local families on state housing list

Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett

Forty Rotorua families have been given a state house to live in over the past six months, but 36 more remain on a waiting list for a home.

Ministry of Social Development figures show fewer people are on a waiting list than last quarter, but 16 of those on the list are classed as "at risk" with a "severe and persistent housing need that must be addressed immediately".

It's recently been revealed thousands of state houses could be put on the market, although Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett has said Housing New Zealand would remain the dominant force in providing social housing for the country.

The Government was working through details of possible housing sales, and said it was too soon to say whether Rotorua houses would be affected.

Housing New Zealand regional manager tenancy services Darren Toy said the agency had 677 properties in the Rotorua district, about 20 fewer than in 2010.

"The number of Housing New Zealand properties has remained fairly steady over the past five years."

In Rotorua, 12 properties were currently vacant because they were undergoing maintenance or were for sale.

"Like any landlord, we will always have some properties vacant at any given time."

Nationwide, Housing New Zealand owns or manages 68,000 properties, housing about 200,000 people.

"Our role is to provide homes to people who are most in need. This means ensuring that we have enough of the right types of houses, in the right places, to meet demand. Therefore we are continually purchasing, selling, redeveloping and upgrading properties as a matter of course."

Smaller houses seem to be most in demand in Rotorua - with one and two bedroom homes having a waiting list of 13 for each.

Since April, the Ministry of Social Development has become responsible for assessing people's eligibility for social housing and managing the waiting list.