24 October 2010 Media Statement

Announcements won’t address housing shortages

Government announcements today in response to the Housing Shareholders Advisory Group (HSAG) report will do nothing to address the shortage of housing in New Zealand, says Labour Housing spokesperson Moana Mackey.

“Labour totally supports any move to partner with and build up the community housing sector, but given the chronic housing shortage, especially in Auckland, we need to be building more houses, not just shifting existing ones around.”

Moana Mackey said that the Government's own figures show an expected housing shortfall of 15,000 homes over the next five years. “If we don't start building a lot more houses the situation is only going to get worse. Any increased involvement of the community housing sector should be as well as --- rather than instead of --- increased government provision of social and affordable housing.”

Moana Mackey said that she also hoped Housing Minister Phil Heatley had dropped his intention, announced in August, to make charitable organisations pick up the tab for increases in social and affordable housing stock. “It's completely unrealistic to expect the philanthropic sector, already under enormous pressure, to magically come up with hundreds of millions of dollars to bridge the gap in Government funding for social housing.”

“Many questions remain unanswered. The devil will be in the detail and Labour will want assurances this isn't a back door way of privatising state housing stock. We also want to know the implications for tenants in those houses that are to be devolved – for example will they be able to stay in their home? Will their Income-Related Rent subsidy be devolved with them? These are all critical questions.

“Likewise, on the issue of reviewable tenancies, we would want to see the detail, as what the Minister has outlined so far, with all the exemptions and caveats, doesn't appear very different from what happens in practice now. And we would seek assurances that any child growing up in a state house is guaranteed security and stability.”

Moana Mackey said that any ten year plan for social housing should be bipartisan, and Labour would be willing to work with the Government to ensure that any decisions lasted beyond parliamentary terms.

“If the Government is serious about coming up with a long term plan for social housing in New Zealand, then they need to work with the Labour opposition. We might not agree on everything, but we would be more than willing to work with the Minister in good faith to provide as much stability and longevity as possible for any decisions made about the future of state housing in New Zealand.”

ends

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