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Aucklanders whose homes are uninhabitable from the summer storms will not have to pay rates this year, councillors have decided.

Council officers believe there are between 327 and 836 homes that remain uninhabitable, many of whom have received some rates relief from the council’s emergency relief fund over the past six months.

Officers recommended a 50 per cent reduction was “fair and equitable” going forward into the new financial year from July 1 but councillors at the governing body meeting voted to provide full rates relief over the next 12 months.

This followed a plea from Waitakere Ranges Local Board chairman Greg Presland for full rates relief for many families under severe emotional and financial pressure.

Presland said in Piha and Karekare there are 30 red-stickered and 34 yellow-stickered homes, and in Titirangi and Green Bay 17 red-stickered and 51 yellow-stickered homes.

These residents, he said, were early “guinea pigs” for climate change and full rates relief will give them some hope.

Rodney councillor Greg Sayers put forward the amendment for 100 per cent rates relief, saying the officers’ proposals would add complexity and stress levels on families.

“Why not got the whole way? I believe it is the right thing to do for families out there,” he said.

The vote on the amendment was unanimous.

The cost of the rates relief will be between $1.2 million and $3m.

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