New Spreydon-Cashmere Community Board member Callum Stewart-Ward says accommodation at the Harman Courts and Feast Place housing complexes on Poulson St is cold and he will advocate for it to be improved.
While some residents of these complexes agree with Mr Stewart Ward, others are happy with their living situation and the city council is looking into how to improve the “warmth and dryness” of properties in these complexes.
In September, the city council said it would borrow $10 million so it could fast-track work on making 909 of its social housing units warmer and drier by the end of next year.
Feast Place housing complex resident Nico Walker said his unit is cold and it will be good for residents if something is done to make their accommodation warmer.
“I can’t afford money for a heater so I just wrap myself in a blanket.
“I don’t mind about the coldness but it would be good for the older people if it was warmer.”
Mr Stewart-Ward said of the properties at Harman Courts: “They’re quite sort of old cubes that were deemed uninsulatable by the Otautahi Community Housing Trust because some of the properties didn’t have roof cavities or anything like that. It meant that they sort of stayed cold and damp. I know of one resident who paid out of her own pocket for a heat pump and got that installed.”
But Harman Courts resident Wayne, who moved to the complex two months ago and wants to keep his last name anonymous, said his new unit is much warmer than the flat he shifted from elsewhere in Christchurch.
“I’ve been as warm as. They’re [residents are] very lucky to have a place like this.”
Said city council head of facilities, property and planning Bruce Rendall: “All properties are insulated to the required legislative standards and are compliant with the Residential Tenancies Act.
“While all our units meet legislative requirements the council are considering how to improve the warmth and dryness of all their properties. This will include insulation work at the Feast Place complex – some of this work has commenced and the rest is planned over the next 14 months.”
Mr Stewart-Ward said he will push for the complaints procedure for residents concerned about the state of the houses they are living in to be made easier and the management of social housing in Addington to be improved.
He urges people with concerns about the state of social housing in South Christchurch to discuss these with the community board so they can be raised with the city council.
