An abandoned property in central Christchurch, plagued by squatters, rubbish and rats, has sparked 43 complaints.
And Christchurch City Council admits there is not much it can do about the Worcester St property.
One homeless man who is rough-sleeping on the derelict site described his life there as being the “survival of the fittest”.
“This is how we live. We live day-by-day.”
The City Mission does not have room for them, so this is their home, he said.
“I can go (to the mission) during the day to eat and shower but can’t stay there.”
The man said he would not be moved from the property.
“People often walk past, eyeing us up and abusing us. None of this s**t is ours, every other c*** has put their s**t here,” he says of the rubbish there.
When The Star visited the site, a homeless man, identified as ‘Dan’, refused to come out of his dwelling which was barricaded with pellets.
He built the wooden hut after moving onto the property two weeks ago.
The addition of the large, makeshift structure has prompted neighbours to call on the city council to clean the land up, saying it is a health risk.
A nearby resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said the vacant site has been a problem for years. A lot of rubbish has been dumped there, attracting flies and rats.
City council head of regulatory compliance Tracey Weston said it has received 43 complaints since August 2020, with the most recent received on January 26.
Ten complaints came from residents concerned about squatters on the site, 10 were about rubbish and vermin, eight were about dangerous and insanitary buildings and four raised safety concerns.
She said there is no legal requirement for owners to maintain vacant or abandoned properties to a particular standard, unless a breach of legislation was identified.
The council does not have powers to move people off private property. But Weston said it was continuing to investigate whether conditions at the site were a “health nuisance”.
“The threshold for formal intervention is high.”
City Missioner Corinne Haines said it is aware of the people living at the site, which backs on to the City Mission.
“They are visited by our outreach team and some also directly access our services, such as the day programmes and the learning hub.”
She said it offers all rough sleepers a bed in its emergency accommodation area.
“For the safety of staff and other clients, some people can’t be accepted in our shelters if they are too impaired by alcohol or drugs, or if they have been trespassed from our premises for previous unacceptable behaviour, which might put staff and other clients at risk."
A nearby resident said homeless people have been staying at the Worcester St property continuously since the house that used to be there was damaged in the 2011 earthquakes.
The resident believed the owner of the property was overseas.
In June 2024, the abandoned, quake-damaged house used by the squatters caught fire. Multiple crews took four hours to bring the blaze under control. The fire-damaged house was then demolished last year.
The resident said he was one of many frustrated Worcester St residents who have been calling on the city council to do something about the “eyesore” property for years.
“Used needles, soiled sheets, used toilet paper, and a strong smell of urine coming from the property are just some of the problems,” he said.
