Wellington social housing sale: Living there 'changed my life' councillor says

A Wellington councillor says living in a block of social houses at the centre of a controversial sale changed the course of his life.Labour's Paekawakawa/Southern Ward councillor Nureddin Abdurahman said Kāinga Ora's decision to sell the sites on 6,8,4 Nuku Street in Strathmore was personal for him, after he and his family lived in one of the units between 2010 and 2017."It was crucial because I had nothing."It changed my life."Having arrived in New Zealand from Ethiopia in 2008 to join his wife who had a refugee background, Abdurahman said he was driving taxis at night and studying during the day at Victoria University when he lived in the Strathmore flats.He said he couldn't afford to rent on the private market at the time, and it gave him the chance to "navigate through and get to my potential"."I had my kids there, so it gave me an opportunity to spend more on food instead of going to the private market."Abdurahman said he contested the idea that people got trapped in social housing, and that it had helped him gain a higher tertiary education with a master's degree, going onto his career in national and local politics.He said he forged strong friends there, recounting a former neighbour called Chris who he had shared food and money with when times were tight, and who had tracked him down during Covid, asking if his family had enough to get by."Those people are my family."Protest signs erected by Strathmore Housing Action on the Nuku Street public housing blocks.RNZ / Baz MacdonaldHe was among 11 Labour/Green members of Wellington City Council, including Mayor Andrew Little and Deputy mayor Ben McNulty, who signed a letter to the minister and associate minister of housing Chris Bishop and Tama Potaka, as well as Kāinga Ora chief executive Tracey Taylor."Why [is Kāinga Ora] selling when there are hundreds of people sleeping on our streets? For me it doesn't make sense," Abdurahman said.But not all city councillors agree on the issue.Wharangi/Onslow-Western Ward councillor Diane Calvert said she did not sign the open letter, because she wanted the council to focus on its own housing portfolio.The council needed to make sure it could meet its own commitments under the Deed of Grant with government, she said."We have tenants living in our own substandard housing and I think our efforts are better directed to ensuring council housing upgrades occur as quickly as possible and at a minimum cost to ratepayers."The council had recently reached an agreement with Kainga Ora regarding a scaled back development in Arlington Street in Mount Cook, she said.Housing minister Chris Bishop has declined to comment on the sale, saying it was "an operational decision for Kāinga Ora".The deadline sale - which was for 21 October - sparked community and political backlash - including from Wellington City Mission, Downtown Community Ministry, Pōneke Public Housing Futures, Strathmore Housing Action. Residents protested and sat in at the site earlier this week.RNZ earlier walked inside the properties, where mould flaked from the ceilings, paint was peeling, and puddles of rainwater collected on the floor.On Friday, fences had been put up outside the blocks.Kāinga Ora regional director for Greater Wellington Sarah Willson said earlier this week the agency had no plans to review the sale at Nuku Street."We understand the strength of feeling in the Strathmore community about the Nuku Street site and recognise how important public housing is to Wellington," Willson said.Willson had earlier said that developing the site into social housing was not financially viable, but that other buyers may see potential in it.She said a scaled back plan for 37 homes on the nearby Ngatiapa Street would still go ahead, and that any money from Nuku Street would go back into the homes.Willson would not reveal how many offers the site had, saying that could jeaopardise the sale process, and saying the next step in the sale process could take several weeks."We appreciate there is strong community interest in the sale of the property, and we will share the outcome as soon as we are able to do so."