New eligibility rules giving a higher priority to those needing physically accessible housing were adopted by the Dunedin City Council yesterday.
Councillors voted unanimously in favour of the new rules, which would see the need for physically accessible housing given similar weighting to those over 55 with an urgent housing need.
During discussion of the topic, Mayor Aaron Hawkins questioned a new rule under which applicants would return to the bottom of the waiting list within their priority group if they turned down three offers of housing that otherwise met their needs.
‘‘There are legitimate reasons ... that people do say no, because they live in Port Chalmers and [don’t] want to move to Mosgiel because that’s separating them from their community networks and support networks.’’
Community housing manager Kate Milton said people who had genuine reasons for declining an offer of housing, such as an inappropriate location, would not have that refusal counted against their limit of three.
Council staff would now re-prioritise the housing waiting list based on the new criteria.
