Source: Child Poverty Action Group
Public housing advocates and experts are warning the Government that rhetoric around “anti-social tenants” is a distraction from what is truly needed to fix decades of neglect and under-resourcing of our public housing programme.
They have also been troubled and disturbed that this Government commissioned Sir Bill English to do the so-called”independent” review of Kāinga Ora due this month, when his government was responsible for evicting people and the privatisation of our State homes.
“It is clear that the recent announcements by the Government to increase evictions of public housing tenants, and force people living in emergency housing into private rentals, is preparing the ground for a new assault on public housing, at a time where we need it the most,” says Vanessa Cole, author of the report and spokesperson for Public Housing Futures.
“The People’s Review listened to people whose lives have been transformed by public housing, those on the frontlines of the housing crisis, local and international research, and lessons from history, to tell the full story about public housing and its essential role in providing decent, stable and truly affordable housing to people in our communities,” says Cole
“Public housing is a key solution to our housing crisis, yet successive governments have under-maintained and under-resourced the programme, prioritising private market profits over making sure that everyone has a home.
“This has forced Kāinga Ora to borrow and sell off land in state housing neighbourhoods in order to pay for years of neglect. Kāinga Ora has begun to ramp up house building again and it is important to maintain this momentum in order to achieve a greater presence of public rental housing in the housing landscape.” says Cole
“Under the previous Government, Kainga Ora’s debt did grow substantially. However, this was due to the organisation being starved of capital by successive governments and being forced to borrow from private debt markets in order to meet the Government’s housing and urban redevelopment ambitions.
This debt is Government-backed so its current level is unlikely to concern financial markets, and its so-called sustainability dep
