Gisborne woman Rena Pritchard spent three-and-a-half years waiting for social housing to become available, and now her dream of moving into a "forever home" has been realised.
Watch the full Marae report on TVNZ+.
Pritchard, a long-term transitional housing tenant, did not take her temporary house for granted. But speaking to Marae in an interview held before she received the good news, she said she was unable to settle not knowing if she was going to receive a call up in a week or another six months.
She adapted by seeing it as “home for now”.
“I think sometimes it is my home, but to me, I’m really lucky that I have ended up here compared to some people who don’t. Yeah, because housing here is, wow. Like, the rent’s just out the gate.
“I mean, I couldn’t afford to have a one bedroom, private, because they’re like about $500 a week. So… that would be all my pension a fortnight.”
She became emotional when asked what her ultimate dream was: “To be in a forever home. Because I’m not getting any younger either and I think my life sort of has been upside down, a lot. So, I suppose I’m sort of lucky to be here.”
From one week to three-plus years in transitional housing
Tūranganui a Kiwa Housing Ltd is one of Gisborne’s key housing providers, managing 38 properties across the city including a former motel that was purchased and converted into housing.
Stacey Maniapoto, transitional housing manager, said clients were supported to live independently and set goals.
“We look after all sorts. There’s no ‘perfect’ type of whānau that we take in our space.
“We take all sorts from all walks of life, all different backgrounds. A lot we get are whānau trying to get back on their feet, healing, even recovering from addictions trying to move forward. We also have some working whānau who also need that hand up as well.”
She said it takes time to find suitable accommodation for whānau because of the different circumstances with each case. The timeframe can stretch between a week to three years, she said, and for some like Pritchard, even longer.
“That’s the timeframe, unfortunately. Not all of them have been here that long, but yeah, there’s still a couple, there’s still a few in our space that have been here too long. However, we can’t move them on.”
“You feel a little bit forgotten,” said Pritchard, “because you’ve got a roof over your head now, like, there’s no urgency to get into a forever home. But at my age it’s like, I would like to be settled.”
Pritchard finally received the long-awaited call from Kāinga Ora following this interview.
Housing prices out of reach?
While New Zealand’s housing market remained steady in June, Gisborne recorded the sharpest year-on-year increase in unsold inventory, according to a recent report by REINZ. The median house price is around $600,000.
As of Monday, there were 70 properties up for rent in Gisborne on TradeMe. It’s never been that big before, said Maniapoto – you would have been lucky to see five to ten.
“It’s because of the price of homes these days. So, there’s a lot of homes out there to rent but no one can afford to rent them.”
In February, Kāinga Ora announced plans to build more than 100 additional homes in Gisborne, and in May, it welcomed new tenants into eight new homes. There are currently 15 housing projects listed on the website.
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