More than 20 tenants gathered on Monday to form a tenants’ association, following a decision by the Invercargill City Council in March to raise the rent of its units by 35% during the next two years.
The aim of the association was to give tenants a collective voice when discussing issues relating to their rental properties, such as rent increases and maintenance issues.
Council housing tenant Ken McNaught said he wanted to ensure he and his neighbours could live a life with less stress.
Most of the tenants in the council-owned flats were elderly people on limited incomes, so the increased rent would have a significant impact on them, he said.
"I want to help make elderly people happy again."
He said it had been hard for tenants to cope with the "enormous" rental increase.
Mr McNaught remembered receiving a letter, three days before Christmas, advising the rent of his unit would rise.
The news affected his physical and mental health as his unit was "the only thing he had".
Unfortunately, tenants could not overturn or change the council’s decision, he said.
But instead of regretting the past, he wanted to look to the future.
"Having a tenants’ association will give us a stronger voice when dealing with the council, to get better outcomes for the residents in the future."
Mr McNaught said it would be advocating for better consultation about future issues.
He also believed the association would help tenants have direct and better communication with the council.
The rental hike for the 215 council units was to cover the cost of healthy home standards and to enable increased investment in housing stock which required improvement, including the installation of heat pumps in the units.
Leisha Kennedy has been living in a council unit in Pomona St for about 10 years, and got her heat pump installed last week.
Despite the initial struggle, she was pleased with the new addition to her flat.
"Oh, it is really good — I’m just a bit nervous about my power bill," she said.
The meeting earlier this week was chaired by Department of Internal Affairs community development adviser Garry Lay and Labour list MP Liz Craig.
Following the council’s rent decision, Dr Craig wrote to tenants asking them to "get in touch" if anyone needed assistance.
"Among the group who got back to me, forming a tenants’ association to strengthen their voice with the council was seen as a priority so I have been happy to support them in that," she said.
Southland Beneficiaries and Community Rights Centre manager Neville Corkery said staff had been working with tenants and the Ministry of Social Development to ensure tenants were receiving their full entitlements.
"We should soon have a better sense of how many tenants will be able to receive an accommodation supplement and what the average payment will be."
Mr Lay said he would provide ongoing advice and support the best organisational and governance arrangements to achieve the group’s aims.
