The New Plymouth District Council has decided to ditch a review of its pensioner flats and will hang on to them.
The future of the city's 145 pensioner units was discussed at an extraordinary council meeting where options included selling them to a social provider or putting them on the market.
The flats are worth up to $15 million but make an annual loss of about $100,000.
The meeting considered more than 80 submissions, and voted in favour of retaining the flats.
New Plymouth Mayor Andrew Judd said the decision reflected the importance the community places on caring for the vulnerable in society.