By David Hill for Local Democracy Reporting
Te Whare Putea Trust manager Barbara Timms, centre, with Heartland Services co-ordinator Kapri Martin, left, and financial mentor Lyn Kirton. Photo: LDR / North Canterbury News / David Hill
A Kaikōura community trust is hoping to find a more permanent solution to the town's housing woes.
Te Whare Putea Charitable Trust plans to take over the ownership of seven temporary accommodation units it has been managing for five years, as a first step to becoming an accredited community housing provider.
The Kaikōura District Council approved a proposal last month to sell the units to the trust for $1 and to extend the lease on the Beach Road site to February 2027.
"We are excited about the future for the supported housing and wish to acknowledge the council's decision," the trust's manager, Barbara Timms, said in a statement.
"It allows the units to remain in the community and helps towards addressing future local housing need for people of all ages."
Council chief executive Will Doughty said the council will now work through the lease and any commercial arrangements with the trust.
He said the council also owned some elderly housing units and there was limited Kāinga Ora housing in the town, as well as the seven units at Beach Road.
"Between the three of them there is a range of options, but there is a waiting list on all three of them, so it shows there is a need for this type of housing."
The seven temporary units were installed on the Beach Road site by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in 2016, before being sold to the council for $1 in 2019.
Te Whare Putea, a local social service agency, has been managing the units for the last five years and paying a $200 lease to the council.
Selling the units meant the council would no longer be liable for maintenance or insurance costs.
The trust plans to upgrade the units, while applying to become a community housing provider, a process expected to take 12 to 18 months.
It also planned to relocate the units to a more permanent site.
The Kaikōura Housing Forum, established after the 2016 earthquake, has identified a number of pressures on housing, including the high cost of accommodation and few available rental properties.
It found there were 12 local households on the public housing register, while others were living in "insecure or inappropriate accommodation", a report to last month's council meeting said.
With the district's ageing population, it was predicted more people would retire as tenants rather than homeowners, potentially adding to the challenges.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.