Roof shout - Habitat partnership helps homeowners achieve critical home repairs

Two whanau are looking forward to a warmer, drier winter, after having their roofs replaced through Habitat for Humanity Central Region’s Home Repair programme, in partnership with Waikato-Tainui.

Jason knew that he’d eventually need to replace his roof when he purchased his 1950s home near Matamata in 2018.

“The plan was always to save up and get the roof done, but then with unforeseen things we never quite got enough to do the whole roof,” says Jason.

“It’s always something that’s on the back of your mind. You see [the roof] when you drive in, but it’s not until the ceiling leaks, or a bit of iron goes flying off, like what happened to our neighbours, and you think, oh, maybe next year.”

Jason says his grandmother was a staunch Kiingitanga supporter and Waikato-Tainui is “just about everything” to his family. So when he heard about the opportunity to apply for a new roof through the tribe’s partnership with Habitat, he jumped at it.

“For the tribe being able to help – we’re not exactly less fortunate, we just don’t have all the tools available to get to where we need to be.

“With the price of living, it is hard, everything is budgeted out before it comes in. So to get help is really great.”

Habitat’s Home Repair programme offers no-interest loans up to $20,000 to homeowners needing critical repairs or maintenance on their homes, with affordable repayments over a period of up to five years. Waikato-Tainui make referrals to support repairs for selected tribal members, while meeting a portion of the costs.

Retiree Hira isn’t missing the rogue possum that had been living in his old roof.

Hira’s daughter, Joanne, says “Dad would say at night he could feel a breeze and he could smell the possum urine. That possum would wake us up because it was running marathons.

"We were worried it was going to bite through the electrical wires and cause a fire.”

With a new roof on, they’ve noticed the house is warmer and drier. They no longer have to worry about water damage in the walls, and they’ve had their lights repaired after water damage had short-circuited some of the switches.

Hira says Habitat’s relationship with Waikato-Tainui was “very important”, and he’s grateful for the partnership that’s enabled him to have this work done.

“The payments that I do pay back are quite affordable,” Hira says.

Habitat worked with NYC Roofing to replace the roofs, and both Jason and Hira were pleased with the contractors working on their homes.

Living in an area prone to particularly strong winds, Jason says he takes his hat off to the roofers who were working in some tough conditions. He took a day off to help them and says they were a neat bunch to work with.

Hira and Joanne say the contractors were very communicative about the work they were doing and any issues they uncovered when replacing the roof.

“Dad wanted to feed them and everything – that’s how appreciative he was,” says Joanne.