An investment that changes live

After attending a HomeGround Open Day and hearing about the Mission’s work to provide safe permanent homes, long-term supporters Keziah and David saw another opportunity to help address rising homelessness in the city.  

They bought a small apartment which they rent out through Auckland City Mission Housing Limited (ACMHL), our community housing division.

ACMHL provides permanent homes for people in need of social housing. As well as managing the 80 apartments in HomeGround, 60 apartments at Te Ao Mārama, ACMHL also manages 79 privately owned properties scattered around Auckland.

These scattered site properties are all rented to people in the Housing First programme, which supports those who have been experiencing homelessness for over a year and have complex needs (such as poor physical or mental health, or harmful substance use). Because it’s much easier for people to address those issues once they’ve been housed, we provide them with permanent homes and personalised wraparound support for as long as they need it.

Living and working in central Auckland, Keziah and David are very aware of the rise in people living without shelter and the urgent need for affordable housing. Learning about Housing First, they saw a way they could help.

“We had a rental property once in the past and gave it up because we found being private landlords didn’t suit us. But when we heard about the Housing First approach, we thought, if we could rent a home to someone who really needs it, that would be different. People have to live somewhere.”

After consulting with ACMHL, they bought a small two-bedroom apartment near the Mission, which had previously been a private holiday rental.

“It’s central and close to HomeGround. It’s a nice, fresh little apartment and because it’s high, it’s got a million-dollar view over the inner harbour.” 

A close family member was inspired to buy a second apartment in central Auckland.

Both apartments are rented out through ACMHL to people who had been turned down everywhere else because of their troubled histories. ACMHL also manages the properties for Keziah and David.

“The Mission is there as an intermediary, so we actually see this model as less risky than renting privately. They’ve dealt with issues like when there was a repair needed. It’s been very easy so far.”

“This gives a good rental return, has all the support of a rental manager, even guaranteed rental.”

“We see this as a great opportunity for anyone who’s in a position to invest in an apartment. It’s an investment that achieves a social goal but delivers a good return at the same time. And instead of adding to Auckland’s homelessness by putting in another Airbnb, you're helping to address the problem. So for us it ticks a lot of boxes.”