Tenants First

As an organisation with more than 60 years’ experience, we are experts in building and modifying homes that meet the needs of people with disabilities, including older people with mobility needs.

Our Tenancy Managers make every effort to match tenants with homes that will suit them best and, where necessary, modify homes to ensure they can live and thrive in their communities.

Over the past 12 months, we have worked to improve a significant number of IHC-owned properties to support people with intellectual disabilities to live and enjoy homes that are warm, safe and dry, and continue to meet their needs.

Similarly, having taken ownership of the Tauranga portfolio, we have been implementing a planned programme of maintenance to improve our new homes and bring them up to the standard we expect.

As an organisation, we pride ourselves on doing more to support our tenants than a typical landlord, and work to ensure tenants are connected with the community services and resources they are entitled too. We are always looking to work with other organisations to build partnerships, including sharing our knowledge and expertise to ensure better outcomes for our tenants.

In Tauranga, we joined the Social Housing Advisory Group, alongside a range of non-government organisations, to engage with local and central governments so that we could understand housing need in the area and work to increase the supply of homes. In Auckland, we are part of the Auckland Community Housing Providers’ Network, working to deliver similar outcomes for people in need there.

We have also established the Pathways Group in Tauranga, with other housing sector organisations and the Ministry of Social Development, to develop comprehensive support strategies within the community, and to support people to continue their journey along the housing continuum to live satisfying lives.

Taking Stock

We have been the proud owners of the 1,138 public housing properties in Tauranga for almost 18 months.

During the first year, our staff worked extremely hard to build relationships with our tenants, and to establish APNZL as a provider of quality homes and services for the people we support.

The results of the hard work was reflected in the feedback from our 2018 Tenants Survey, which saw almost 90 per cent of respondents say they are satisfied with the condition of their home.

Our first year has not been without its challenges, including the need for substantially more investment in the Tauranga portfolio to bring it to the standard we expect for our tenants. We have worked to understand the scope of the challenge we continue to face to in delivering our aspirations for the portfolio, however the results of our Tenant Survey show we are heading in the right direction.

We know there is always more that can be done, and at this stage we are extremely pleased with how our tenants have embraced us as a housing provider.

In Hamilton, we are celebrating two years’ ownership of 344 homes previously owned by the Hamilton City Council.

We continue to make improvements to the portfolio, such as working to provide greater communal living spaces in our unit complexes, and helping to encourage greater social engagement for residents.

We were extremely happy to see more than 90 per cent of out Hamilton tenants respond that they were happy with the services we provide as landlords.

Developments that Matter

As an organisation, we remain committed to increasing the scale and professionalism of our staff and team, as well as building skills and capability to deliver better core services to all tenants.

New Zealand is in the midst of a housing crisis, with significant demand for public housing for people in need, none more than people with disabilities – a population severely overrepresented in housing poverty statistics.

APNZL is looking to increase the supply of quality, accessible homes that meet the needs of New Zealand’s ageing population, and fulfills the Lifemark Standards for accessibility. We currently have more than 250 new homes in our development pipeline.

In Tauranga – recently named New Zealand’s most expensive city to live – we are committed to building at least 155 new homes. So far we have identified more than 100 sites in the region for development towards this goal, and we will have new homes available on the ground by the end of 2018.

In Auckland, the last year has seen the kick-start of our new development programme with five new homes now completed in the city, another 61 under construction and a further 39 currently under negotiation.

APNZL has set the aspirational target of increasing our portfolio to 5,000 homes throughout New Zealand, and we remain committed to working alongside the government to grow the number of high quality, medium density, mixed development homes.

Over the next 12 months, we will continue to access new housing opportunities, including under the government’s KiwiBuild scheme, where together there is an opportunity to provide homes for families in strong and inclusive, mixed and tenure blind communities - places where people feel they can belong and thrive.

Working Smart, Working Modern

APNZL aspires to be an organisation that is smart, efficient and modern. We want our staff to have the best technology at their fingertips and the right tools to be able to succeed at their jobs, support our tenants, and provide people a safe working space.

In the last year, APNZL has implemented a number of technological improvements to the way we work to help us achieve these goals. We have introduced new systems, such as Promapp, and made enhancements to the way we use Qube, to help us develop more efficient ways of work – meaning our Tenancy and Property Managers can spend more time helping people live satisfying lives in their communities.

In addition, we have introduced a new system to improve the way we manage incidents at work. With Risk Manager, we are able to manage incidents and take action sooner, to improve the safety of our people and the people we support.

APNZL is committed to ensuring our people are safe and healthy in our workplace.

Words from Our Tenants

The best of present of all

Three tenants will all have somewhere new to live this Christmas thanks to some quick thinking by their neighbour and quick action by their Tenancy Manager.

Shirley Landrebe was being trapped at home by her disabilities, which were increasingly restricting her movements. Her husband, Rodney Landrebe, was no longer able to help her in and out of the house and he was becoming desperate for help. Shirley’s sister, Delwyn Semenoff, miles away in Hamilton, was getting urgent calls because Shirley was either stuck inside outside.

“I have just felt helpless because I am over here,” Delwyn says.

While the couple was waiting for a more accessible unit, their neighbour had a good idea. He said a man he supported, Rodney Vincent, liked their unit and would be keen to swap.

They went to view the unit – “and it was perfect,” Delwyn says. So they contacted Tenancy Manager Judi Little and the swap was approved. “They approved it very, very quickly. It’s perfect for Christmas. It’s absolutely perfect. I feel overwhelmed.

"This will bring Shirley back to the person she is, without worrying every day about how she will get down the steps and how she will get into the shower and out of the shower."

“I am a Christian – we are all Christians. I had prayed and prayed about the move and I thought that this is such a huge answer to prayer,” Delwyn says.

Judi says Shirley was effectively housebound, and even had to be helped outside to have her photograph taken. But it had not been possible to modify their house. At the same time, Rodney needed to be closer to his caregiver and to the hospital.

She says all the tenants are “over the moon” about the house swap. “Rodney Vincent will now have his caregiver living next door. Shirley and Rodney will now have a property with level access, just two doors from the supermarket and three doors from their church.”

A home Chaedarn can fully enjoy

When Shontelle and her daughter Chaedarn were faced with moving out of their home, Accessible Properties was there to help.

Chaedarn has a disability because of complications during birth, as well as a chronic lung condition. It was important not only to find somewhere to live, but to also find somewhere that would be accessible for Chaedarn.

Shontelle worked with her ACC case manager who identified Accessible Properties as an option.

Shontelle says once a meeting was set up, everything happened very quickly. She was soon viewing an Accessible Properties home in Hamilton.

“When I saw the house it felt right immediately. The house was well set up for Chaedarn’s needs and she is able to access the entire home."

“It’s easier than any other house we’ve lived in. My daughter can enjoy every aspect of this house. In some other houses, she couldn’t even go outside.”

Another benefit Shontelle has seen is a real improvement in her daughter’s physical wellbeing.

“Chaedarn’s health has really picked up since moving into our new home. All of the windows in the house are double-glazed, and I notice this has helped to improve things with her lung condition.”

And what does Chaedarn think of the new place? “She’s loving it and is so happy.”