Housing offers for customers unable to return home

At this point 567 Kāinga Ora properties in Auckland have been assessed as having damage to the home or surrounds due to the floods.

"With the information we have so far from property assessments, the large majority of the flood-damaged homes we have in Auckland can be lived in while repairs are organised and carried out," says Deputy Chief Executive for Auckland and Northland Caroline Butterworth.

"The worst-damaged homes are unable to be lived in without significant repairs so we are finding permanent new homes for the customers who were living in those homes. To date, we are in the process of contacting 181 customers to offer them the option of moving to a newly vacated or newly built house so that they don’t have to wait for their current home to be repaired."

More offers of alternative, permanent accommodation are being made each day.

"We have committed to rehousing all our customers who are unable to return to their homes – either because the house is too damaged or because they cannot live safely and well in their home while repairs are done because of their specific set of circumstances.

"In those cases, we are offering the customer a permanent move to another home so they can get on with their lives," Ms Butterworth says.

"Finding suitable homes in the right places for our customers and their whānau takes time, but we are making good progress. Some customers we’re offering houses to want to stay in their existing home. In those cases we are working through whether that is possible."

Ms Butterworth says if people can live safely and well in their homes while repairs are completed, Kāinga Ora is encouraging that as there is only a limited number of homes available in Auckland.

"We are here to help and we’ll continually assess each individual situation to make sure the home is safe and healthy for people to live in until full repairs can be done. We will rehouse customers if it turns out they can’t live well in their home. Customers can get in contact with us at any stage by calling us on 0800 801-601 or by emailing us at aucklandrecovery@kaingaora.govt.nz."