St Andrew’s Retirement Village. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
One of New Zealand’s largest retirement village providers has confirmed it will no longer provide rental accommodation for senior citizens in its St Andrew’s Cambridge facility.
Metlifecare has told the 11 people living in the villas they need to be out by March next year. Then the Swedish-owned company will upgrade the old villas and put them into its Occupation Right Agreement pool.
The news took many of the residents by surprise – one a resident for 15 years and some who had been renting the low cost villas during two changes of ownership.
But Metlifecare Operations general manager Hannah Walton said many of the villas were rented on periodic tenancy terms pending future development.
Those residents were informed prior to accepting and signing the tenancy agreements that there would be decisions made about the future of the villas, she said.
Metlifecare bought the Cambridge village from the Selwyn Foundation in November 2021.The purchase followed a competitive tender process in which Metlifecare was identified as the party most closely aligned with the Selwyn Foundation – a charitable organisation with a strong focus on people and the holistic wellbeing of residents.
The village over two hectares in the centre of Cambridge has 65 villas and 11 new independent living apartments. The rental villas are the ones bordering Fairview Motors on the Victoria Street side of the development.
Cambridge Community Services secretary Juliet Drage, a minister for St Andrew’s Church, said it was part of her role to speak up for the vulnerable and oppressed.
She wanted to see a good outcome for the renters in safe housing they could afford and would work with the residents and their families to achieve that result.
The housing on site was originally developed as St Andrew’s Court by the church in 1977. It became too much for the church to manage so in 1985 it became a charitable trust, and the trust sold it to the Selwyn Foundation in 2006.
It was upsetting to hear the village would no longer provide a rental option which was the idea behind the original development said Drage.
“We understand and empathise that this is a challenging time for some tenants. We are offering support for all tenants to find alternative accommodation, including working closely with a rental agency, and assistance with moving, if they require it,” said Walton.
The organisation was meeting all its obligations under the Residential Tenancies Act. Metlifecare also extended the notice time well in excess of the required 90 days to provide tenants as much time as possible to find alternative accommodation.
Some tenants had already made alternative arrangements, she said.
- The article was updated to delete the words Stock Exchange listed as the company was delisted three years ago.
