Council defers rent increases

Waipā District Council has deferred any rent increase for tenants living in Council-owned housing for the elderly units until 1 July 2021.

Waipā District Council currently owns 93 housing for the elderly units in seven complexes in Kihikihi, Cambridge and Te Awamutu. A further 10 one-bedroom units are set to be built at the Vaile Court complex in Cambridge next year and there are also plans to build more units in Te Awamutu. All of Council’s housing for the elderly units are self-funded; they are not subsidised by rates.

Market rental rates for the units are reviewed independently each year. Waipā’s rents were last increased on 1 July 2019 and rents would normally have increased from 1 July 2020. But in response to Covid-19, the government introduced a six-month freeze on rent increases along with some other rental changes.

The deferment meant any rent increases would have coincided with the Christmas period. This was not acceptable to Council’s Housing Working Group which unanimously supported a staff recommendation that any rent increases be further delayed.

The deferrment will also allow changes to the 2021 accommodation supplement and superannuation to be taken into account and will align with Council’s own financial planning cycles. Council already caps rents for housing for the elderly at 30 per cent of national superannuation, after taking the maximum accommodation supplement into account.