A recent decision by Kaipara District Council has given Fagan Place community housing tenants assurance on a way forward for new warm, dry, modern and healthy homes. 

Council owns community housing across the district, at Fagan Place Mangawhai, Kauri Court and Awakino Road in Dargaville, and in Ruawai. Dargaville and Ruawai housing was upgraded in the late 2000s. The Mangawhai units, originally constructed in the late 1970s have not been upgraded and are in poor condition.

For some time now, Council has been investigating different options for improving the homes and ensuring they met Healthy Homes standards before the deadline.

In 2020, Council began discussions with a community housing provider to purchase and run the Fagan Place housing units, which stalled after parties were unable to reach an agreement. Multiple options were then investigated and considered to upgrade the current units.

The new Council decided to look at modular, pre-fabricated homes for the Fagan Place site after considering the costs to refurbish and upgrade the existing units. Following reports prepared by staff, pre-fabricated housing was identified as cost-effective and the preferred option for Council to provide new, modern, warm, dry, healthy, homes for the tenants. Building off-site also meant disruption for the current tenants is also minimal. As landlords, Council must provide housing that complies with the Healthy Homes standards no later than 30 June 2025.

Kaipara District Council Mayor Craig Jepson commented that the process had taken some time, “and I acknowledge the uncertainty and anxiety many tenants will have been feeling. The new Council worked through the options as quickly as possible, to ensure the solution was suitable and cost-effective, and looked after our current tenants. I have seen examples of some of these pre-fabricated one-bedroom homes. We are really happy that they will provide safe, dry and healthy homes for some of our community’s most vulnerable.”

Council discussions about the pensioner housing have been publicly excluded (held in confidential workshops and meetings), to protect the privacy of the current tenants.

“It was important that once Council had made a decision and agreed a way forward, that we met and discussed the solution with the current residents first before we released the information more widely,” Mayor Jepson said.

“We hope that with this resolution, the new Council has provided confidence for the tenants that we are making the decisions and getting on with it. We will be keeping them updated throughout this process.”

As part of the procurement process, Council has developed and agreed a set of standards for the homes based on feedback the residents have previously provided and that are in line with best practice for this type of community housing.

Council-owned community housing in Kaipara is currently provided without ratepayer contribution. The costs for the new homes have been included in this year’s Annual Plan (2023/2024), with $1.5 million set aside. This will be mainly loan funded and paid off over time by the rental income generated from the housing. Additional capital will be required in the following year to complete the project.

Council will shortly begin the search for a company who is able to build the homes through an official procurement process, and plans to make a decision to award the contract before the end of the year. It’s expected that a tender will go out to market in late October, with proposals received, evaluated and the contract award made by Council later this year.