Westport housing demand 'outrageous' even before 'huge' flooding damage

Sunday, 18 July 2021

Flooding in Westport in mid-July 2021. (Video first published in July 2021)

Authorities fear there will be a “lot of displaced people” as flood damage puts further strain on Westport's already stretched housing market.

Bulging Buller and Orowaiti rivers caused major flooding in the township, forcing more than half of its 4500 residents into six evacuation centres on Saturday.

The true extent of the damage to homes is still being collated, but Buller mayor Jamie Cleine said “it’s huge”, with hundreds of homes predicted to be left damaged or uninhabitable.

The town had long been dealing with a lack of available rental properties or houses for purchase, which meant there were few homes available for flooded residents. Trade Me had one rental listed in the entire Buller district on Sunday.

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Multiple streets across Westport remain flooded on Sunday.

Cleine said with “next to no available rentals” already, the concerns now were about finding somewhere for displaced families to live either medium or long-term while houses were repaired or rebuilt.

The council was discussing options with the military, like whether the current welfare centres could be “beefed up” to be suitable for more long-term stays, or looking outside the district.

The Buller District Council welfare support office was also working with agencies like Kāinga Ora and the Ministry of Social Development to support families.

As of Sunday afternoon, 500 properties had been inspected, but it was not yet known how many were deemed uninhabitable.

Ministers Chris Faafoi, left, and Damien O’Connor, right, with Buller mayor Jamie Cleine, middle, speak to media in Westport. Cleine says the flooding damage to homes is “huge”.

“It’s going to be a significant number of houses,” Cleine said.

The issues were not necessarily about money, but practicalities – particularly in finding immediate accommodation.

“You’re not just going to magic up a lot of houses.”

Barney Simmiss' home on Westport's Derby St has flooded for a second time in three years, 'but it’s worse this time', he says.

Tradies in the town were already flat out dealing with a “building boom”, he said.

Jae Westport restoration owner Robert Walker predicted at least 200 houses were underwater in the Westport township, and they only had a two-man team.

Help from Nelson and Christchurch would arrive as soon as the roads reopened.

An IAG builder had told him as 500 homes could be damaged, but even Civil Defence could not tell him the exact extent.

“We just simply don’t know yet.”

The Westport Airport terminal had also been flooded, and his team were sucking water out of there in time for flights on Sunday afternoon.

Ray White property management division manager Michelle Ouellette said it had been “a bit overwhelming” checking on tenant safety and monitoring the damage among the properties it managed.

“It's going to be pretty devastating for a lot of people.”

It was unclear how many of its rental properties were damaged as not all had been contactable yet, she said.

Some were fine, some had been evacuated, and “some are right underwater” with enough damage “to keep someone busy for a while”.

“Tenants and owners have been amazing with a real West Coast get on with it mentality.”

Emergency services take a well-earned break at the Civil Defence Emergency Response Centre after helping flood-affected residents in Westport.

There were already limited houses to rent, with the only one available on its books having just been offered last week, she said.

“There are not a lot of options right now. I think there's going to be a lot of displaced people.”

Ray White principal Mark Rumsey said listings were down 41 per cent on last year, and houses went from being on the market up to 200 days, to being snapped up within 25 to 30 days.

“In the last eight to 10 years we’ve never seen the list stock or available houses for sale anything like as low as it is.

“Stats have been ridiculously out of kilter with the rest of the country.”

High selling prices had “surprised a lot of locals”, with up to 70 per cent of buyers interested in properties being from outside the area. The median house price on the West Coast reached a record $300,000 in March, according to the QV House Price Index.

New houses were not being built due to a combination of a lack of tradesmen, a lack of building supplies caught up in international shipping delays, and rising costs for builders, Rumsey said.

“It's all a bit of a mess at the moment. The demand is just outrageous, but there are not any houses to meet that demand.”

A Fire and Emergency spokesperson said urban search and rescue personnel were carrying out rapid damage assessments in Westport on Sunday and other specialist crews were on their way to help, including a drone team.

“We are also sending extra fire crews and appliances from around the South Island to Westport. They will be providing relief for the local volunteer brigade and will help the community with the cleanup and ongoing recovery.”