Accessible Properties would like to emphasise its commitment to providing high-quality housing for people in need.
Since taking over the Tauranga portfolio from Housing New Zealand in 2017, we have started work to address identified defects and a significant amount of deferred maintenance required to bring the stock up to the standard we would expect for our tenants.
This has included ensuring the properties are safe and maintained to a healthy standard.
As such, Accessible Properties will now be taking advantage of the latest and best advice around meth contamination, as provided by the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor Professor Sir Peter Gluckman.
Prior to this Access Properties tested all of its Tauranga properties under the 2017 standard for testing and decontamination of a property contaminated by use (such as smoking) of methamphetamine. A total of 147 of these properties tested positive for meth contamination above the limit for what was considered safe at that time.
The vast majority of tenants who were in these homes continue to be housed by us, however a few decided to move on to other properties and in a small number of cases we took action under the Residential Tenancies Act.
Overall, approximately half of one per cent of tenancies were terminated due solely to meth contamination.
We want to make clear that we do not move people out of homes lightly, and we very rarely seek to evict tenants.
Accessible Properties entered the community social housing area because we believed the existing system was failing to deliver, and we believed our model could deliver real benefit to the people we house.
It is still early days, but indications are that we are making a positive difference.
Community housing providers like Accessible Properties must be registered, and are regulated, by the Community Housing Regulatory Authority (CHRA).
This monitoring determines whether we continue to meet eligibility criteria, and requires us to comply with performance standards that under our contract are significantly more robust than any other social housing provider in the country, including Housing New Zealand.
We are focused on achieving the best outcomes for our tenants, and this goes well beyond the interests of a private landlord or property investor.
We are continually looking to match our properties to best meet the needs of our existing tenants, as well as those who will live in our homes in the future. This includes ensuring we use our expertise to build and modify homes for an aging population, and people with disabilities and changing housing needs.
Greg Orchard
Accessible Properties Chief Executive
.png){kind=small}