The Tāmaki Housing Group photographed some of the empty houses in Glen Innes and counted around 50 houses. They have set up a page for people to post photos of empty state homes in their communities across Aotearoa: facebook.com/EMPTYSTATEHOMES. The page now has 2,000 likes and has had a significant response from tenants.

Duncan Garner asked the question: "Surely there must be a need for these houses – with reports of people living in garages and cars, right?"

We do not need to ask HNZ the reason for the empty homes, despite the desperate need for housing in Glen Innes and other areas, we know the answer to that question.

Developers have left these homes empty, many of which have been empty for three years, while they wait for an increase in land values. The question we do ask is why couldn't the families stay in these homes all this time?

The government have engaged in a systematic devaluation of the state housing stock, with a significant decrease in the maintenance costs going towards repairs. Despite this, many of these homes are in good condition.

In Glen Innes they just demolish the houses now, blaming it on protesters for trying to prevent the homes of the families they grew up with from leaving GI.

The government are using the argument that there is a lack of supply to demolish whole state housing communities and in their place build new private developments.

The housing crisis is framed as a problem of lack of supply for home ownership, however those most effected by the housing crisis are the poor, the ones being evicted from their homes and forced out of their communities.

List of the houses:
8 Merfield st
16 Merfield st
18 Merfield st
22-1 Merfield st
24-2 Merfield st
24 Merfield st
34 Torrington st
36a Torrington cres
31 Castledene cres
13 Melling st
12 Hurstwood pl
14 Hurstwood pl
20 Elstree ave
22 Elstree ave
16 Elstree ave
14-2 Elstree ave
14 Elstree ave
12 Elstree ave
10 Elstree ave
8 Elstree ave
1 Overlea rd
3 Overlea rd
12 Taniwha st
20 Taniwha st
22 Taniwha st
4 Silverton ave
31 Silverton ave
33 Silverton ave
39 Silverton ave
15 Kotae rd
11 Kotae rd
22 Lyndhurst st
8 Fernwood pl
9 Fernwood pl
19 Fernwood pl
21 Fernwood pl
12 Fernwood pl
14 Fernwood pl
283 West Tamaki rd
15 Calreville cres
20 Clareville ave
21 Clareville ave
48 Ingelwood st
44 Ingelwood st
19 Ingelwood st
13 Ingelwood st
22 Ingelwood st
24 Ingelwood st
12 Ingelwood st

ENDS

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