17 Feb 2025

Six Wellington social housing buildings earthquake prone

1:51 pm on 17 February 2025
The lift at Pukehinau Flats in Wellington has been broken for the past week, forcing its residents to walk up a large number of steps to get to their apartments. The lift is not expected to be fixed until January.

Pukehinau flats in Aro Valley is one of the six social housing complexes deemed earthquake prone. Photo: MONIQUE FORD/STUFF

Six Wellington City Council social housing complexes that include more than 300 homes have been deemed earthquake prone.

The council recently commissioned seismic and risk assessments for their council blocks which showed that parts of the properties are below the 34 percent of the New Building Standard (NBS).

The complexes affected are the Berkeley Dallard apartments in Mount Cook, the Daniell Street apartments in Newtown, the Hanson Court apartments in Newtown, the Kōtuku apartments in Evans Bay, the Whare Ahuru Flats in Thorndon and the Pukehinau flats in Aro Valley.

Te Toi Mahana, which manage the tenancies at the properties, had informed tenants earthquake strengthening work will be carried out.

The council said the apartments were still able to be lived in under the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Enterprise's seismic risk guidance.

Tenants will be re-homed when required for works to take place and Te Toi Mahana will host information sessions at impacted properties, so tenants can ask questions and talk face-to-face with staff.

The sessions will be followed up with a meeting which explain the timelines of the projects at the various buildings.

Council chief infrastructure officer Jenny Chetwynd said they appreciated the uncertainty the announcement could cause, and the council was committed to completing the work with minimal disruption to tenants and in a timely manner.

Te Toi Mahana general manager Tenancy Daniel Tai said tenants would be supported throughout the process.

The Earthquake-Prone Building Notices will be displayed at the entrances to the buildings.

It comes after firefighters battled to put out a fire in the Pukehinau flats yesterday afternoon.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs