Volunteers raising money for shared housing in Napier, described as "flatting for seniors", say they’re "gutted" the Government has declined to fund it.
By Linda Hall of Local Democracy Reporting
Lucy Miller and her husband Mark Baylis have been working on a registered charity committee to raise funds to help build an Abbeyfield House in the city.
The project was expected to cost about $3.2 million to $3.5 million, with the committee seeking capital funding from the Government to cover much of the cost.
Miller said they were all "gutted" but they would keep going.
Abbeyfield houses are run by not-for-profit community housing providers and registered charities, and provide supported living accommodation for people aged 65 and over living on a pension.
There are 16 in New Zealand, with five more either underway or in the early stages of planning, including Napier.
Residents have a private studio with an ensuite and their rent includes electricity, water, maintenance and all main meals prepared by a housekeeper.
The committee is in negotiation with Napier City Council to lease land on the corner of Spriggs Cres and Tait Dr in Greenmeadows for the project.
A council spokesperson said they were at the stage of negotiating Agreement to Lease and Deed of Lease terms.
They said Abbeyfield would need grants or funding to complete the project.
Miller said they were "really grateful" to the council.
"It’s a perfect site as there is already pensioner housing there."
Miller, a retired social worker, became involved after coming across iwi housing in Flaxmere based on the Abbeyfield model.
"As a social worker, I was helping people get into that accommodation, and I realised it was pretty cool. So I contacted Abbeyfield New Zealand, and a group of us decided to form a committee to try and get a house built here.
"The only expectation on people is that they are fit and independent and living only off the pension. Residents share lunch and dinner, get their own breakfast and all the food is supplied."
She said sharing meals had "big health benefits to the people living there because they have got companionship".
"It’s like flatting for seniors. It’s warm, comfortable, affordable."
'We are not giving up'
Miller said she was passionate about the homes because she had seen elderly people distressed about where they would live.
"That was enough to motivate me. A lot of the people we worked with were in miserable living situations, and there are all sorts of reasons for it, but overcrowding was generally the main one.
"They might have had a little rental and then family, also facing housing problems, come to live with them, and suddenly the old person is sleeping on the couch.
"I’ve seen elderly people in family garages, people who sell their homes to a child expecting to have a lifetime interest in the place and suddenly they are on the street because the family doesn’t want them there, that’s not uncommon."
She said there was also a lot of loneliness among seniors.
"One man told me he went to Mitre 10 so he could talk to people in the aisles."
She said the Government invited them to apply for funding, but scrapped the Affordable Housing Fund as part of its Budget 2024 in May, replacing it with a Flexible Housing Fund.
"They invited us to apply, so that made us hopeful," Miller said.
She said recent news reports had highlighted that the aged-care system was under financial pressure.
"The Abbeyfield model proves that living like this delays going into aged care by four to five years. The Government would recoup its investment quickly.
"It’s so disappointing. The committee has worked so hard. But we are not giving up."
Napier MP Katie Nimon said the Government’s Housing Flexible Fund had this week announced 23 new social and affordable homes in Hastings, and 118 in Gisborne-Tairāwhiti, with the first expected to be available from July 2027.
"This is first and foremost great news for people in our region who have been waiting for a home.
"The Government’s Housing Investment Plan has identified where housing need is greatest, and funding decisions were made accordingly," Nimon said.
"While I acknowledge and appreciate the important work Abbeyfield House does in our community, it’s important that one unsuccessful funding application is considered in the context of the Government’s broader investment in housing, including the significant investment in our region."
The Abbeyfield committee is holding a fundraiser, Afternoon Tea with Abbeyfield Hawke’s Bay, on August 22, at the Greenmeadows East Community Hall, 83 Tait Dr, from 2pm to 3.30pm.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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