Flats in Auckland suburbs such as Sandringham were part of an own-your-own-home scheme that was set up in the 1970s to provide affordable housing for retirees. Photo: RNZ / Amy Williams
More than 70 vacant flats in Auckland Council's pensioner villages will be refurbished and rented out after sitting empty for years, some almost in ruin.
There are 14 of the pensioner villages across Auckland, and more than half of the 150 units are now vacant because the council stopped on-selling the flats.
They are part of an own-your-own-home scheme that was set up in the 1970s to provide affordable housing for retirees, with council buying back units then on-selling at 80 percent of the market value.
It has been two years since the council put its share of the scheme on the market, raising concerns among village residents.
The council's property arm Eke Panuku was in negotiations with an undisclosed buyer earlier this year, but that sale fell through.
General manager of assets and delivery Marian Webb said the 78 vacant units were council owned and these will be refurbished to healthy homes standard and rented to tenants that are "compatible with existing homeowners".
She said when council has bought back all the units in a village, Eke Panuku will sell that village.
Webb said a village in Panmure is fully vacant and this would be demolished and the land sold next year, with the proceeds from the sale used to start refurbishing vacant units in other villages from February.
Refurbished units would be rented out from about the middle of next year.
"Our dedicated property management team has the experience and expertise to manage the scheme to a high standard and form strong relationships with existing homeowners," Webb said.
"We already manage a significant number of residential tenancies on behalf of council. Crucially, it provides homeowners a single point of contact for resolving issues."
She said there would be no change to current homeowners' contracts and no pressure placed on them to sell back to council.
"Most of all, we're pleased to be able to give homeowners a clear answer on the next steps. They have been very patient and understanding, given the challenges of this very complex process," Webb said.
The council's plan to sell its share in the scheme raised concerns among the homeowners of the privately owned 72 units who wanted the villages to remain as affordable housing for retirees.
Pauline Sheddan - who bought a unit in the Sandringham village four years ago at 80 percent market value - said the outcome was a good compromise.
"We're very happy that finally a decision is made," she said.
"Some of us expect to be here for a very long time, so to have a good neighbourhood obviously is much more comfortable."
Sheddan said some villages had many vacant units and remaining homeowner residents had started to feel unsafe.
"There are other people who have just not been able to cope at all and have had to move on, go into a retirement home or had family take care of them in some way... because the stress has been enormous for them."
She said Eke Panuku's answers to her questions, provided to RNZ, showed there would be no more than two people renting each unit and tenants would generally be over the age of 65.
Sheddan said affordable housing for the elderly was needed in Auckland and having units sit vacant for years had been a shame.
"There's an enormous demand and it also gives the new tenants the security of a long term rental. They're not at the whim of a private landlord."
Auckland Council's Finance and Performance Committee agreed to sell council's interest in the own-your-own-home scheme in 2022, after a review found it was no longer fit for purpose.
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