Pensioner Housing FAQs

Increases will come into effect on either 31 July or 31 January, depending on when the tenant took up occupancy.

Why?
Under the Residential Tenancy Act 1986, rents can only be increase once every 12 months. Rather than have our 84 tenancies increasing at odd times as people took up occupancy, Council does two annual increase cycles. For example: if a tenant moved into their unit on 1 October (at the rent set at the time), their rent can’t increase until at least 1 October the following year, so they will miss the 31 July increase cycle. Their rent will go up on 31 January, essentially meaning they will be on the same rent for 16 months.

Yes, we must give tenants 60 days’ notice. The fees and charges are currently open for public consultation. Consultation closes on Friday 3 May. Council will hold Hearing and Deliberations on Wednesday 15 May and adopt final Fees and Charges on Wednesday 29 May. Letters will be issued on Friday 31 May with the increase amount (yet to be decided by Council) – which will come into force on either 31 July or 31 January.

This activity of Council must be primarily funded by rentals (ie those who directly benefit from the service). Rent levels must be set to recover Council’s full cost of providing housing to the occupier. This includes operations, repairs, maintenance and depreciation.

Staff will be conducting a market assessment during the 2024-25 financial year. Engagement has taken place with other councils and with Community Housing Providers (CHPs) during the last 12 months at a strategic level to identify how the level of service can be optimised for our tenants and costs improved. The proposed change to rents is based on recovering actual costs, including depreciation.

Not necessarily. Council has a maintenance programme of work that it delivers over the financial year. The rents are not increasing because we want to do more work or need to do additional work. The rent is increasing because our income is not keeping pace with our costs and the service is ending up with a shortfall, which is currently being covered by other ratepayers.

If you encounter a one-off problem, please call Council, and speak to Keryn Evison, who manages the Pensioner Housing portfolio. Don’t wait until you have defaulted on your rent. It may be possible to put a short term payment plan in place to get tenants over a one-off hurdle. Defaulting on rentals is not a long term solution.

No, you can’t, not your own boarders. It is not allowed in your Tenancy Agreement. However, Council already has two sets of pensioners essentially ‘doubling up’ in two-bedroom units. This is perfectly acceptable if for instance a spouse has passed on or moved into a care facility. It essentially means you get a house mate. This means that the rent in the two-bed unit can be split between two people which may be financially manageable for some, not to mention good for companionship and safety.

Unfortunately, you will need to pay the increased amount for the unit.

No, only people on pensions, with a Council Tenancy Agreement, can live in Council’s Pensioner Housing units.

If you are struggling to keep up with your overall cost of living then this increase, may impact on your family.

Please contact the Ministry of Social Development for other avenues of assistance. Council does not currently work in the social sector space in this capacity.

Council’s primary source of income is rates (around 78%). To date ratepayers have in effect subsidised pensioner housing rent levels, our proposed rents will align actual costs with the beneficiaries of the service, which is our Council policy in this area.

Many pensioners are eligible for the Accommodation Supplement from the Ministry of Social Development (MSD). Some tenants are already receiving this, but there are some who aren’t. Council cannot apply for this supplement for you, you need to contact MSD yourself. You can contact their Seniors line on 0800 552 002 or their General Enquiries line on 0800 559 009.

Council is asking for community feedback on whether to introduce a $70 discount for our single tenants living in two-bedroom units. These people are the hardest hit by this increase. Councillors will listen to feedback and decide by the end of May.

The amount you can apply for depends on how much you (and your partner) earn, any money or assets you and your partner have, your accommodation costs, family circumstances and where you live.

No, but we are advocating for the Accommodation Supplement to be increased, give the last increase was 2018.

Our thinking at this stage is that wouldn’t be equitable for ratepayers. However, Council still needs to make decisions regarding rentals (that is the process that is underway now). There are many people in our community who are on pensions, like many of yourselves, who are already in accommodation on the open market. Be they ratepayers or tenants they are paying market rates. It could be perceived as unfair to add additional burden to ratepayers by funding a portion of the Pensioner Housing service through rates. We simply must charge closer to market rates to appropriately maintain and units and the cost to do this must come from rentals.

There is of course, the open market but costs in this space are higher (even higher than what we are proposing). Your best option is to contact the Ministry of Social Development and see what other options are available.

Council knows with current cost of living pressures that any rent increase is going to be challenging, and we wish there was another way. Single people, living in two-bedroom units will be most affected. We decided to ask the community if they would be willing to provide a discount of $70 a week for this group of pensioners. It will only apply to existing pensioner tenants as at 30 June 2024. Thereafter Council will encourage new tenants looking at a two-bedroom unit to buddy up with a friend or consider a one-bedroom unit. Alternatively, they can choose to cover the full rent cost without any Council subsidy.

Currently showing as April 2018 on the MSD website any decision on reviewing these rates is for central government.

State pensions increase annually. There are likely varying views on whether it has kept pace with cost of living. Council has no control over this.

Yes, this subsidy is paid to eligible pensioners through Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ). This weekly payment is paid from 1 May to 1 October. The amount is $20.46 a week per single person and couples will receive $31.82 a week. This subsidy happens automatically. There is no need to apply.

Market rentals vary depending on housing type. Council reviews a range of sources of data on current rents within the local market including Tenancy Services (part of The Ministry of Business and Employment), in March 2024, indicative rental rates were:

Yes, there are around 80 people on our waiting list.

Yes, that is a good solution, especially for single people living in two-bedroom units. Double ups must be with another pensioner who is either in another unit or on the waiting list. Co-habiting for companionship, safety and to share the rent is a good solution. Both occupants will need a Tenancy Agreement with Council.

We have 84 units across the district split between Tokoroa, Putāruru and Tīrau, and a combination of two-bedroom units and one-bedroom units. See the table below:

There are only a handful of our units that still have a wood burner. There are a couple of options if you are in one of these units – the Lions Club does a free drop off for pensioners who have no other means of support for firewood (you must register with and be assessed by the City Lions for this), and you can apply for wood through WINZ.

No, wood burners are not as efficient or clean as heat pumps.