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After 20 years of turning his Canterbury state house into a home, Ray ‘Junior’ Young is being forced to leave, with no say in whether he can stay.
Kāinga Ora is planning to sell the West Belt property in Lincoln and relocate the 72-year-old.
Junior does not want to leave and does not know where his next home will be.
“That’s the hardest part because I don’t know where I’m going; that’s up in the air,” he said.
“I haven’t slept – there is that much s*** going through my head at the moment.”
The house is one of about 900 Kāinga Ora properties being sold nationwide each year as the agency renews its portfolio.
Kāinga Ora said Junior’s home, which was built in 1947, was being sold due to its age and condition.
But Junior said there was nothing wrong with the house and believed it was only being sold for financial gain.
“They used to think about people, now they’ve turned.”
The house is a duplex, with Junior’s neighbour also having to leave.
The property has an RV of $740,000, but a real estate agent told Selwyn Times the 1320sq m property could be sold for more than $1 million.
Currently, Junior is expected to be in the home until the end of March before Kāinga Ora will relocate him. The agency cannot sell the house until he has left.
Junior was living in Christchurch when Kāinga Ora, then Housing New Zealand, offered him a place to live in Lincoln.
“I got a phone call from a lady from Housing New Zealand to say there was a place in Lincoln, and I laughed, and she asked, ‘Why are you laughing?’ and I said I was born and bred in Lincoln, and it looks like I’m going back.”
Since moving in, Junior has made the place his own, keeping the property in good shape and building a large vegetable garden.
“The day I walked in here, there was four foot of grass from the front to the back fence, and there were overgrown hedges and three overgrown plum trees, and I whacked it all back.”
Junior is concerned his next home will be smaller and may not have a garden, or that he could be moved to a unit in Christchurch.
“If I go to a concrete jungle, it’s going to cost me an arm and a leg for veggies because I won’t be growing them anymore, and that sort of thing bugs me.
“Wherever I go now, it will just be an extra 50-odd bucks for veggies.”
Kāinga Ora Canterbury regional director Liz Krause said the agency would continue to support Junior throughout the relocation process.
“We understand that moving can be difficult, particularly when people have lived in a home for a long time and have strong connections to their community.
“We know that Mr Young is a keen gardener and we are working closely with him to find him another Kāinga Ora property that is right for him, which may take some time.”
Krause said Kāinga Ora owns 27 homes in Selwyn and will deliver a further nine homes in Rolleston by the end of June 2027.