Potential rent increase mooted
11 December 2014Waipa pensioner tenants may face a modest rental increase to help cover operating costs and fund more capital spending on the council's pensioner housing service.
Earlier this year a pensioner housing working group made up of councillors and staff began looking at ways to ensure that the council's pensioner housing service remains viable in the future and to come up with options to fund maintenance and possible expansion of the service.
In a report to the council next week, the working group will recommend a removal of the 75 per cent market rent cap - meaning tenants would pay full market rent for their units.
For most tenants, this would mean an increase of less than $10 per week as most would be eligible for an accommodation supplement from the government.
The working group is also suggesting that changes be made to the eligibility criteria for pensioner housing. The group wants to increase the age of eligibility from 60 to 65, increase the limit on the assets tenants may own and limit other income sources to 10 per cent of regular superannuation payments.
The potential changes were to be discussed directly with pensioners at meetings this week.
Mayor Jim Mylchreest said councillors had reaffirmed their commitment to providing pensioner housing earlier this year and had also re-confirmed that pensioner housing in the future must be self-funded and not subsidised by Waipa ratepayers.
We need to have the money available to maintain and upgrade our existing housing stock and even potentially expand the portfolio in the future given our ageing population. And we need to be able to able to pay for that, he said.
If the proposed rental increase goes through it's likely we will be able to budget an additional $3 million of capital investment into pensioner housing over the next 10 years.
Mayor Mylchreest said any changes would need to be discussed widely with the community before final decisions were made.
Even if the changes proposed from the working group are approved, there will no change to rents or anything else until mid-2015 at the earliest.
The report also recommends that the working group be given more time to consider redevelopment options for the council's existing pensioner housing complex at Palmer Street in Te Awamutu.
The complex has been earmarked for redevelopment but the working group wants until May next year to finalise its recommendations.
Ends
All media enquiries, contact Jeanette Tyrrell (on behalf of council) 027 507 7599