Source: Radio New Zealand
Jill Hawkey. RNZ / Penny Smith
The Christchurch Methodist Mission is warning that homelessness among older people is at crisis levels and that the situation is rapidly worsening.
The scale of the problem was laid bare during the launch of the charity’s cross-party Doors to Dignity campaign at Parliament on Tuesday night.
The mission said the housing situation for older New Zealanders had deteriorated significantly over the past five years.
Its executive director Jilll Hawkey said that, anecdotally, the number of older people rough sleeping was on the rise.
“We see it from our housing outreach teams, we’ve in recent weeks found a couple of women in their eighties who have been homeless and two men last week in their sevenites who are homeless,” she said.
Jilll Hawkey says the number of older people rough sleeping is on the rise. RNZ / Penny Smith
Hawkey said the housing crisis was especially bad for renters aged 65 and over.
”There is a lot of evidence that this is a growing crisis. The percentage of those aged over 65 years on the social housing register has grown at a faster rate than any other age group.”
The Christchurch Methodist Mission said two out of every three renters aged 65 to 74 spent 40 percent or more of their income on rent.
Hawkey believed the answer to the crisis was simple.
“We need homes to be built that are affordable, accessible and warm, that foster cultural connections and that are embedded in local communities. We know the difference that living in such a home makes.”
The charity’s Doors to Dignity campaign advocated for cross-party support for government investment in what it considered appropriate housing for older people.
Housing Minister Chris Bishop. RNZ / Penny Smith
Speaking at the launch, Housing Minister Chris Bishop said parliament did not use to take housing seriously enough, but now acknowleged there was a crisis.
He said housing supply did not meet the specific needs of older people.
”Fifty percent of people of the [social housing] register need a one bedroom house. Twelve percent of Kainga Ora stock is one bedroom. We’ve been building the wrong houses for years and years. We need to build simply, low cost affordable units, increasingly for seniors.”
Labour’s housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. RNZ / Penny Smith
Labour’s housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said flawed data was masking the true scale of the homelessness crisis among older people.
”We don’t know how many people are in severe housing hardship. We don’t know how many people are sleeping rough. We, up until now, have been relying on a census that happens once every five years and, frankly, despite the best efforts of all of you and others, if you are living rough filling out a form is not going to be a priority and then we have a five year gap before we have another idea.”
Green Party housing spokesperson Tamatha Paul. RNZ / Penny Smith
Green Party housing spokesperson Tamatha Paul said New Zealand did not have the infrastructure for older people to have a dignified life.
”Only 2 percent of our overall housing stock is accessible and that’s despite the fact that we have a growing ageing population and also despite the fact that more than a quarter of our population is disabled.”
New Zealand First said the latest Budget would fund hundreds of new social homes in Auckland and help lower borrowing costs for community housing providers.
The Christchurch Methodist Mission said the challenge of older persons’ housing was urgent.
Its Parliamentary petition to increase and target investment in social and affordable housing for older people had 911 signatures.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
