A year ago, the council decided to sell 14 villages across the region that were part of its own-your-own-home scheme set up in the 1970s. Photo: RNZ / Amy Williams
Auckland Council's property arm is in negotiations with a potential buyer for a scheme overseeing 150 flats designated for retiree residents.
A year ago, the council decided to sell 14 villages across the region that were part of its own-your-own-home scheme set up in the 1970s. The move was opposed by some residents, concerned the villages will not remain pensioners-only.
An Eke Panuku spokesperson said it was important that a potential buyer "uphold the obligations toward existing homeowners" and meet council's requirements for the sale.
In a letter to residents, general manager for assets and delivery Marian Webb said they had agreed to extend the due diligence process into next year.
"The preferred party has requested another extension until the end of March 2024 to fulfil the last remaining clause in the due diligence process. Having carefully considered the alternatives, we have decided to grant the extension," she wrote.
"I want to emphasise that this is the final extension we will grant the party, and an outcome will be known by April 2024. At this point we will be able to let you know what the next steps are."
Webb said the reason the process was taking longer than expected was because it was a highly complex property transaction involving a number of properties.
"Our stringent requirements that the party must meet also raises the degree of confidence we need to be satisfied the party can fulfil its obligations if it was successful. This means the party has to produce more detailed information than would otherwise be the case for a property transaction, which takes more time," she said.
"It is imperative for us that we can confirm the party has the financial capacity, but also the management capability to take over the scheme."
Webb said the resident owners would remain owners of their homes until they chose to sell.
Half of the 150 flats were now vacant because the council had stopped reselling units - under the scheme it bought back the flats when owners vacated, then on-sold them to a new owner, all at a discounted rate. This included one entire block of flats in Panmure, where all 17 units were empty.
Pauline Sheddan bought a well-kept unit in Sandringham, but 13 of 35 units on her street were now unoccupied. She said residents had hoped to learn who would be buying the scheme from the council before the end of 2023.
"I can probably cope with it but there are others who can't, and it's very distressing and adding to their levels of anxiety about what the future holds," she said.
"I know many other very elderly people who are very stressed by the process and this extension just exacerbates that."
Sheddan said some had sold due to the uncertainty.
"I know of two and potentially three whose families have stepped in to help them out of this situation because the stress and trauma was just impacting on their health and wellbeing. They have sold up and moved on, and not everybody is in a position to do that."
She said vacant units had fallen into disrepair.
"They continue to deteriorate just because they're unoccupied… next door it's becoming quite derelict and isolated, and those that are left there are feeling more and more vulnerable."
Council documents showed a new buyer would be required to invest in each unoccupied unit to provide safe, warm housing, ensure the units were occupied by people needing housing who were compatible with existing homeowners, preserve the original intent of the scheme, and develop and intensify the sites once all units were vacated.
Property lawyer Joanna Pidgeon earlier said the scheme documents showed it was entirely at council's discretion to select a buyer and set the terms.
"It could be a community-minded social housing provider who has a vested interest in continuing the arrangement, or it could be a developer who's hoping they can activate those rights to acquire as soon as possible so they can develop the site for a more commercial development."
Pauline Sheddan (right) with neighbour Lorraine Moon. Photo: RNZ / Amy Williams
The council had a moral obligation to continue with the intent of the scheme, but it was not clear how that would be enforced, she said.
"How will council enforce that commitment and be accountable to them to ensure that that commitment is honoured?"
Sheddan was concerned the units would not be retained for those in their retirement.
"It's putting my long-term security at risk and obviously that's not something I'm happy about.
"I wanted to know who my neighbours would be. I couldn't afford to move into a retirement village...but I also wanted to live close to the city, so that restrained my spending power of my dollar at the time, so this was a great opportunity to buy a unit knowing the other units around me were owner-occupier and I wouldn't have transient tenants potentially coming and going and causing problems."
