Hi There.

          Changes to social housing is all set to take place on 14 th April 2014. If you are a HNZ tenant or on their waiting list they will be in touch with you by letter about the changes and how they will impact on your tenancy.

          The main change is that MSD the Ministry of of Social Development will be taking over from HNZ and they will be handling all applications and will be doing the assessments for those seeking state housing.

          Income-related rents for state house tenants will now be extended to those registered non government and community housing providers.

         On that date 14th April you will see tenancy reviews introduced to all state house tenants,I belive that pensioner and special needs housing will not be effected by the introduction of these reviews.Its the usual spin to make sure that those with the greatest need, get priority so nothing changes there,however they will still be reviewed to see if their circumstances have changed.. This will see a downsizing of HNZ staff members but it is hoped that they will be offered the opportunity to work at MSD as they have a lot of knowledge on how the housing system works.

        We will be keeping an eye on the new system and how it is working for tenants.