Housing development to support new tenants in Whanganui

Compass Housing Services is excited to move into Whanganui and support tenants in a new housing development in Victoria Ave, general manager Dr Bernadette Pinnell says. The development on the site of the former Midtown Motor Inn is a combined effort by Soho Group (a subsidiary of Wallace Development Company), the Ministry of Social Development (MSD), the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Compass.

Soho will continue to own the 26 units and Compass will manage them. Tenants are expected to move into their accommodation in November, and be settled by Christmas. The units will suit a range of people - older, single, couples and families with children - and vary from one-bedroom to three-bedroom. Each has on-site parking and a private open space. The complex also has a shared laundry. Tenants will be people on MSD's social housing register. They will pay 25 per cent of their benefit in rent - a standard amount across all New Zealand social housing. They and their support people will be able to decide whether the accommodation meets their needs. They can stay there for as long as they are eligible for social housing.

Compass will have an office on-site, with a staff member starting work in two weeks' time. That person will not live on-site. "We don't want to take social housing units that could be given to someone with needs," Pinnell said.

Compass will be paid by HUD to manage rents and tenancies, maintain the property and organise community development. The tenants will have an advisory group that can make suggestions. Compass Housing Services New Zealand is both a registered business and a registered charity, Pinnell said. It reinvests any profit in the community and has to be accredited annually by the Community Housing Regulatory Authority. Compass already manages social housing in Wellington, Auckland and Palmerston North. Staff have been going to MSD's monthly social services forums in Whanganui, and talking with iwi, schools, health providers and businesses.

"We understand what's happening in the housing market," Pinnell said. "Whanganui has lost a lot of its rental properties because they have been sold." The community housing provider would like to find partners and do more projects here. One possibility is to redevelop old commercial or office buildings for housing. "We are exploring that," Pinnell said.