Flooding damaged hundreds of state homes in Auckland earlier this year. Photo: RNZ/ Josie Campbell
Kāinga Ora remains tight-lipped on the fate of hundreds of water-damaged properties, ten months after the January floods.
The deluge caused damage to around 2000 state homes, including 205 in the southern Auckland suburb of Māngere, where residents had to flee their homes after they were lifted from the ground during the heavy rain.
Joanne* was one of them. She was a Kāinga Ora tenant at Patete Lane for three years and lost everything on the night of 27 January.
"We were at home, my two-month-old baby, our two-year-old, and our special needs six-year-old. We saw the water coming, but we didn't think it was going to come to our doorsteps, but it did.
"And then the water started coming inside; it was scary. As soon as the water came inside, I took my boys upstairs. I was trying to stop it with towels, but the water just kept coming and coming."
Shortly after, Joanne was alerted by neighbours that her housing was moving out of the ground.
"My neighbour from the back came around into the lane and started yelling 'get out now, your house has moved forward and it's up off the ground, get out now.'"
She said residents of her complex were left in the dark about what to do next.
"Kāinga Ora just said we had to go to one of those evacuation hubs and sort it out ourselves.
"I feel they could have done better checking on us, you know, they could have at least run to see how we were doing or if we needed something, but they didn't. Well, I feel they didn't."
After living six weeks rent-free in motel rooms, Joanne's accommodation relief fund came to an end.
"After checking out at the motel, on the day I was supposed to move, KO rang me to say that the house they had shown me wasn't available anymore, and I would have to take another one I haven't seen it yet.
"It was triggering; it was heartbreaking. At that point, I was tired; I just wanted me and my kids in a house. It wasn't until later that night that I broke down crying."
With the damage caused by the floods, Joanne and her family lost all their belongings, including their vehicle and all the house furniture - a loss of more than $10,000.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Through a statement, Kāinga Ora said all new tenants were informed that the state landlord was not responsible for any damage to, or theft of, furniture or belongings within the home.
"We recommend that tenants arrange content insurance to cover this.
"We acknowledge though that for many people living in our homes, contents insurance is not an expense they can afford, so when belongings are damaged or lost, such as in the floods, we try to connect customers with the right organisations who can provide support."
Joanne said the communication she received about the need for insurance cover wasn't clear enough.
"We are renting with Kāinga Ora for a reason; none of us have enough money to pay for insurance; we barely have it for our rent.
"Who would expect that your home would be moved from the ground, and you would lose everything in a matter of hours?"
Many homes are still unliveable after the January floods. Photo: RNZ/Mohammad Alafeshat
Auckland Council and Kāinga Ora tight-lipped about buyouts
At the beginning of the month, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown announced a cost-sharing deal with the Crown to fund more than $ 2 billion of flood recovery and resilience works, including buying out category 3 properties.
Over 700 properties were expected to be included in the scheme.
Kāinga Ora Tāmaki Tai Tokerau Deputy Chief Executive, Caroline Butterworth, said the state landlord was working with Auckland Council to determine how many of its 120 unrepairable properties could be part of the buying scheme.
"We don't know exactly which homes will be in Category 3, but based on what we know from the damage sustained in January and from information gathered and made available since, we expect that a subset of the 120 homes - perhaps a few dozen - will be given Category 3 designation.
"Based on where the flooding hit our homes the hardest, we expect these will predominantly be in South and West Auckland."
She said discussions with the council were ongoing and started when the buyout policy was announced.
However, in an exclusive interview with RNZ, Wayne Brown said the buyout of state housing was a matter for the central government.
RNZ asked Kāinga Ora about the mayor's response, but a spokesperson said it would be inappropriate to provide any details.
"As we are still talking with Auckland Council, it would be inappropriate for us to provide any details at this stage about how specific properties might be impacted."
Auckland Council also declined to speak about the future of the affected state houses.
A spokesperson said it would not have any further details on the policy settings in the buyout scheme until it is finalised.
Butterworth said Kāinga Ora was waiting for further information to determine if the doomed sites could be used for housing again.
However, she wouldn't disclose what kind of information the state landlord was still waiting on.
Meanwhile, Joanne said the fear of new homes being rebuilt on the flooded site kept her awake at night.
"We want those houses to be demolished, not just have the foundations redone then put back on those properties.
"It's just not safe, not safe at all, and it's also not fair to future tenants."
*Names have been changed to protect privacy