Elderly tenant and her supporters prepare for occupation to resist eviction – Tamaki Housing

Ioela ‘Niki’ Rauti and her supporters will be marching to occupy her home at 14 Taniwha Street, Glen Innes on Tuesday 17 January, 6:00pm to stop her eviction.

“I am fighting this eviction because it’s better to live on your feet than die on your knees,” says Niki who is fighting her eviction.

Niki is being evicted from her Tāmaki Housing Association home so that the land can be redeveloped to house the wealthy.

The land where Niki’s home sits is owned by the Tāmaki Redevelopment Company who are redeveloping Glen Innes, Panmure and Point England.

Tāmaki Redevelopment Company are removing state housing and building a mixture of social, affordable and private housing.

While the Government argue that this will help solve the housing crisis, the land is being given to developers who are land banking on empty homes while homelessness increases.

Many of the new homes in Glen Innes are being sold for over $800,000 and median house prices in the area have increased from $400,000 to $960,000 since the redevelopment begun.

2,800 tenancies, including Niki’s, were transferred from Housing New Zealand to the Tāmaki Housing Association in April last year. This was a consequence of the 2013 Social Housing Reforms.

Another consequence was Reviewable Tenancies which has led to many elderly people being evicted from their homes and moved into smaller dwellings.

Niki is an elderly tenant who is a heart patient. When elderly people are removed from their homes and community networks, their health is likely to deteriorate.

All tenants, no matter what their economic and social situation, deserve a home and stability. Once evicted, tenants become transient because of the removal of the ‘homes for life’ policy.

Niki had a partial win against HNZ in 2014, her 90 day eviction notice was withdrawn. Since her state house was privatised, the TRC want her gone.

Evicting tenants and redeveloping the area is not about building more homes for people, it is about making money from the valuable land in Tāmaki.

Tenants and their supporters will be occupying Niki’s home to demand an end to evictions and resist against the gentrification of communities for the profit of the wealthy.

There will be two marches on Tuesday 17 January, starting at 6:00pm. One will start from Glen Innes Library, the other will start at the corner of Line rd and West Tāmaki rd.