Easing the burden of rising rental prices for elderly was the desire for the Nelson Tasman Methodist Parish to put proceeds from the sale of its former site to good use.
The Tasman District Council bought the Richmond Methodist complex at the corner of Queen St and Wensley Rd last year, for $3 million.
Treasurer Don Horne says the Parish, which is now centred in Stoke, believed the rental market would be a valuable area to use the proceeds.
“We wanted to do something for the community and help the rental market… we felt that older people in the community were having trouble with properties and having to pay the full rates,” he says.
The parish purchased three homes in Richmond and one in Stoke.
“So we thought we would purchase them to keep the rent down to a reasonable level.”
Don says the four properties were purchased between September and December last year with some requiring refurbishment to meet healthy home standards.
“We kept them to two bedrooms, we didn’t want families, we wanted it for older couples or older persons, that was the main reason, and they’re all stand alone,” he says. “[The tenants] were referred to us by our letting agent and our instructions were they had to be of a certain age and [the letting agent] always came up with suitable people.
“[The new tenants] are enjoying it, we’ve had no adverse effect or comments.”
The Parish now own six rental houses including the previous ministers’ homes owned by St John’s Methodist Church in Nelson and five flats adjacent to the Stoke Methodist Church.
