No vacant Housing New Zealand home for Nelson mum, says ministry
Wednesday, 14 February 2018
The Ministry of Social Development is working closely with a Nelson mum who is struggling to find a home for her family, says housing deputy chief executive Scott Gallacher.
'Unfortunately, at the moment, we don't have any vacant Housing New Zealand properties in the Nelson area that match [their] needs.'
Jessica Daly and her family have been given notice to leave their rented home of 3½ years because the owner needs it for relatives arriving from abroad.
But the hunt for a new house has so far proven fruitless for Daly, her partner, Dean, their 2-year-old son, and Daly's older son, 10, for whom she has week-on, week-off custody, and their dog, Indica.
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Daly on Monday said she had about 20 rejections for rental properties in the past two weeks.
'Bad credit, beneficiary, mental health issues, I have a dog – why the hell would they pick me.'
However, she said she had always paid the rent and the couple had guarantors. They had talked about rehoming 7-year-old Indica to increase their chances of securing a home but were reluctant because the dog was a big part of the family.
Gallacher said the team at the ministry was continuing to look for properties that may meet the family's needs, in particular a home that would be suitable for a dog.
'We understand that Jessica and her family are in a really tough spot and we're working closely with them to do everything we can to help,' he said.
At the end of December, there were 582 public housing places in the Nelson city area and 155 in the Tasman district.
'We intend to purchase more places in each and are working with Housing New Zealand and other providers to achieve this,' Gallacher said.
A new framework was being developed by Housing New Zealand for tenants to have pets, particularly dogs. In the meantime, interim measures had been put in place, which state that tenants are allowed to keep a dog or other animal as a pet unless:
* the property is unsuitable, for example, no/inadequate fencing;
* the property is subject to body corporate or lease rules, council bylaws, resource consents, local plan rules and subdivision consents that prohibit dogs or other animals.
Dogs had previously been allowed in Housing New Zealand properties, generally for those tenants with disabilities such as blindness and mental illness.
'We understand how important people's pets are to them and our focus is to keep them together wherever possible,' Gallacher said.
The priority for the ministry team was making sure people in urgent need of somewhere to live had a place to stay.
'In the first instance, we'll try to match them with a transitional housing provider,' Gallacher said. 'Where transitional housing places are fully subscribed, we can help to meet the cost of short-term accommodation through payment of a Special Needs Grant. Our ultimate goal is to make sure everyone in need of safe, secure housing has somewhere to stay in the immediate term.'
Once a family's immediate housing need was met, their longer-term needs would be addressed, he said.