17 houses available under stated rent limit for person in tent
The Press reports:
Nellie Hunt and her children spent last night sleeping in a tent in a public park, while another 39 Cantabrians are living in similar or worse conditions.
Hunt is deemed priority A on the Housing New Zealand (HNZ) waiting list, but The Press understands 39 other people stand before her in the queue for social housing.
Her plight was revealed in The Press yesterday and offers of help have flooded in.
The 35-year-old and her three children, aged 16, 11 and 9, were evicted from their rental property and shifted into the tent in Waltham Park yesterday.
Three social agencies could not find the family a home after they were served a 90-day eviction notice in September.
Wouldn’t a balanced story include why she was evicted? The video says it is because the landlord is selling the house, but that doesn’t require you to evict tenants. In fact having tenants generally makes a sale easier.
Hunt turned down offers to move into other people’s homes because she was afraid it would forfeit her “urgent” position in the HNZ queue and one of the only chances she has of getting her children a suitable home.
So it is a deliberate choice to move into a tent.
On an average week she will receive about $760, which includes her wages and Working For Families and accommodation supplement entitlements.
Hunt is hoping to find a three or four-bedroom home in Waltham or surrounding suburbs, and said she could pay a maximum of $400 rent per week.
A lot of families have three kids and don’t have four bedroom houses.
The figure of $760 a week sounds light. Let’s say she is on $14 an hour full-time. That is $560 gross a week. Tax reduces that to $481 a week. WFF for three kids is $290 a week and the accom supplement for that income and $400 rent in Christchurch is $106 a week which is income of $877 a week or the gross equivalent of $55,000.
Finally I’ve gone to Trade Me and done a search on rental properties in Waltham or nearby suburbs for under $400 a week for three to four bedrooms. There are 17 of them. That would be relevant information to include in the story, and maybe ask why one of those were not rented. They’re all currently available.