One buyer Graham McCready bought two flats in Linden, Wellington, for $87,500. This meant statehouse rentals would be raised to match private-sector rentals. What role should government have in providing affordable housing? Then there was the almost universal belief that city streets were no place for children: safe suburban backyards were. Minister defends state house sell-off. But for some reason some tenants now thought they could live in their state house for as long as they like, even when their circumstances improved or they no longer needed the space they once did. By February 1939 state houses were being completed at a rate of 57 per week, with the prospect of the number rising to 70 per week by the end of the year. If you cant contribute but want to help, please always feel free to share our blogs on social media. Describing the Western Springs camp, in Auckland, one writer noted the accommodation is not first class, but infinitely better [than that] from which the tenants have come[they also] have the satisfaction of knowing that they will be allotted a State house within a brief period. Are they now going to confess to selling alll our public assets as well next?????? just because it isn't housing NZ doesn't mean it isn't social housing. The total number of properties managed by Kinga Ora was 65,769 as at December 31. Guidance for the primary sector; A survey of buyers identified the main selling points: the low purchase price and the small minimum deposit. Second, an income bar of 520 a year was introduced for new applicants to enable state housing to be redirected towards the poor. In 1975, concerned at the depletion of stock, the Labour government curtailed sales, except in areas of high concentration such as Porirua East and Mangere. The political party or coalition of parties that commands a majority in the House forms the government. But the National government was reluctant to take no for an answer. Cyclone Gabrielle response - But, as with Seddons workers dwellings, this desire led to high building costs and rentals. When Auckland grandmother Helen Brown's daughter moved into her Housing New Zealand home, she was shocked to find it was already occupied by nasty tenants. Because theyve got to pay more for their housing they havent got money to buy food or clothing. Another turn-off was the expense. But with 10,000 applicants already on the waiting list the completion rate fell way short of demand. A lack of cash wasnt the only obstacle facing prospective tenants. The current Government had continued to use community housing providers. Yet these early state houses never caught the public imagination, or gained the omnipresence in towns and cities that later state houses did. It was the family home. Written by Ben Schrader Such was the exodus from Cannons Creek that the roll at the local primary school plummeted. Funds from the sale of surplus stock would be used to build new houses in areas of growing demand, principally Auckland. There's a waiting list to get into state houses - as at February 2021 there were over 23,000 people on the waiting list, plus their families. Further details were soon revealed: the project would be financed through cheap Reserve Bank credit; and houses would be built by private enterprise, overseen by a new Department of Housing Construction and managed by the SAC. The theory might have been sound, but the practice developed cracks when applied to the reality of individual lives. 2018 Minister announces formation of a new Ministry Ministry of Housing Urban Development (MHUD), made up of portions of MBIE, Treasury and MSD. Treasury A-Z Home Information and services Financial management and advice Assets and liabilities What We Own Income from State Asset Sales as at May 2014 New Zealand Government Asset Sales as at 30 September 1999 - Completed Sales New Zealand Government Asset Sales as at 30 September 1999 - Completed Sales New Zealand Steel With victory eventually in sight, building resumed in 1944. This would help Maori improve themselves by learning to live like Pakeha. It has not been stopped completely as there are circumstances where selling a home to an existing, established tenant makes sense for the tenant and Kinga Ora, Woods said. The measure passed with little dissent and added to a trophy room of world-firsts for the administration, social housing taking its place alongside old-age pensions and votes for women. An important part of its policy is to encourage people to own their own homes, for it considers home building and homeownership develop initiative, self-reliance, thrift and other good qualities which go to make up the moral strength of the nation. New housing was built in higher densities, with mass state housing areas emerging in south Auckland and Porirua, north of Wellington. Prime Minister John Key makes his state of the nation address. She said about a thousand of the houses that were sold were moved out of Government hands and into community ownership, which she believed was the right thing to do. Just about all of us know someone who grew up in a state house. Greg Orchard, a manager in the organisation in the 1990s, believes that the business targets took precedence over the social ones: The social aspect of state rental housing was farmed off to theDepartment of Social Welfare. Dr Woods says that reflects a lease of Porirua state houses to Ngati Toa to manage, which is part of a particular Treaty relationship. Massey University associate professor Grant Duncan, who teaches public policy and political theory, said politicians were known to make statements without providing additional information to qualify it. We're spending $1 million bucks a day on motels - and those are the sort of records you don't want to keep breaking. We would have continued to increase the number of state houses, that was all under development. "The Government has sold at least 146 state homes worth more than $30m since late 2017, despite Labour promising to stop the sale of state houses if elected to government." Just another broken promise from Labour. Im pleased these families will be able to enjoy Christmas without the uncertainty this sale would create. Nationals focus groups will have been telling them that many New Zealanders still hold them responsible for creating the housing crisis. This week they will receive letters telling them their homes will not be sold. 2019 - Housing New Zealand Corporation, HLC and Kiwibuild merged to become the Housing and Urban Development Authority, Kinga Ora Homes and Communities. Still grieving for her mother, Olivia was left reeling by the news. It was so far behind that it would take more than 400 years to reach its 10-year goal of building 100,000 houses. Maori were now allocated state housing on the same basis as Pakeha, leading to groupings of Maori in the larger state-housing suburbs, such as Mangere, Porirua and Aranui. It admitted the cost of deferred maintenance had risen to $1.5 billion and the matter had been discussed with . Willis said National sold or converted "a couple of thousand" state homes. * John Key speech: Next steps in social housing *John Key's state of the nation speech: 12 things to know *Labour leader Andrew Little targets unemployment in state of nation speech * Andrew Little speech: State of the Nation. In making this change the state both acknowledged the importance of providing decent housing to New Zealands poor and made it clear that everyone else should look to their own resources to meet their housing needs. FINAL CALL ON RESERVES TO BE MADE. Among the early casualties of the reforms was 54-year-oldLillian Gregan of Tawa, north of Wellington. The principal told a press reporter: Rent increases are the major factor in the decline of the school roll over the past year. In Auckland, community-housing and welfare groups reported that chronic overcrowdingdoubling-and sometimes triplingupin state-housing areas was leading to an increase in poor health, domestic violence and sexual abuse. There are two Government Houses, one in Wellington and the other in Auckland. Henceforth the government would assist with the cost of both public and private housing through an accommodation supplement administered by the Department of Social Welfare. And there was an assumption that Social Welfare support would be enough. Aside from the tinkering with rents and the building and selling of more or fewer dwellings, there were few major state-housing policy developments in the 1970s and 1980s. If Olivia was expecting the media to argue her case, she was to be disappointed. Interviewing husbands and wives together, ideally before teatime, was also recommended. For National, homeownership had both economic and social rewards. Unable to attract the people they had been built for, the dwellings were eventually let to local workers on higher incomes. Whole suburbs of railway cottages were built at Frankton and at Moera, Lower Hutt. In the 21st century, this will mean the state forging stronger partnerships with housing trusts, community housing groups (see New Zealand Geographic, Issue 83, p. 8) and other third sector providerssomething that is already beginning to happen. This is true of the previous National Government, although National's 2020 policy was to continue building state homes. Sheds Sale Auckland 4g. As a result, the standard of design and materials was laudably high but expensive. They bought their home in 1952, declaring it their 'little piece of New Zealand'. In 1996 the government also introduced a scheme to helpstate tenants buy their homes. The SACs view was that selling state houses enhanced social stability. Lillianwasnt the only tenant facing diminishing choices. In 2011-2012, the Government sold state-owned assets worth $5 million. Workers' Dwelling Act houses(external link). Olivias friend Joanne Rama stressed the importance of local community when announcing to waiting media that Olivia had agreed to move house after receiving a better offer of a Housing New Zealand home nearby. In 1936, New Zealand elected its first Labour government. She said that Nationals record on housing would have been better if it had been allowed to stay in power for longer, as many better, well-insulated houses were under construction when the party left government after the 2017 election. Draw attention easily with with our giant message flags. 1949: Election of National government, which in 1950s promotes sale of state houses to tenants 1952: 12 Fife Lane bought by McGregor family 1974: Housing Corporation of New Zealand formed, by merging SAC and Housing Division of Ministry of Works 1978: 100,000th state house completed in Christchurch The best results would be obtained, the con-ference was told, by officials who knew the name of the tenant and the length of time they had been in occupation of the particular house. Prior bookings are required . While the most needy will continue to be catered for through state-housing provision, the question remains as to who is going to house all those ineligible for state housing but unable to afford market rents. In the early 1950s, the National Government let state tenants buy their homes, offered state loans, and subsidised the building industry to bring house prices down. and Politicans add full to the fire by pumping up dreams for the homeless/unhomed. First, rents for new tenants were raised to narrow the advantage over private rentals. New Zealand has a parliamentary form of government based on the British model. Labour had underestimated New Zealanders love affair with homeownership, which, for many, had become a secular rite of passage into adulthood. What you say today is going to come back to bite you tomorrow if you're not absolutely correct to the letter. National's plans to decrease its state housing stock signalled a shift from being there to support the "most vulnerable" to handing over the responsibility to private providers, Little said. Housing Minister Megan Woods told Stuff that the tenant buyouts were infrequent. changes to housing and property-related costs. With homeownership rates fallingbetween 1991 and 2006 the number of Aucklanders owning their homes dropped from 72 to 62 per centdemand for social housing is only going to increase. If tenants could not afford the increase, they would have to move to a cheaper place. 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Rubbish and effluent festered in city streets and, despite a rising death toll from diseases such as typhoid, little was done to remedy the situation. By 1935 the Coalition government (of the United and Reform Parties) finally realised it could no longer sit on its hands and do nothing. Nationals reforms had also been designed to address a perceived anomaly that has dogged state housing from the beginning: that it creates a class of privileged state tenants. Government House in Wellington For Carr at least, Nationals claim that homeownership encouraged self-reliance, a sense of pride and responsible citizenship rang true. A spokeswoman for Housing Minister Megan Woods said the Government made it clear that stopping the sell-off of state housing did not mean some individual houses that were not fit for purpose would not be sold. Let the Kiw battler build their home as they want. In 1944 a building conference had estimated state-house rents were only half what was required to cover the cost of a similar private house. Willis says the public "should be shocked" by the decrease in the number of state houses. Soon state houses were sprouting across New Zealands suburban landscapefrom Orakei to Oamaru and grateful tenants were turning them into homes. The number of state houses sold has declined under Labour, but the annual number of houses sold to tenants is only just below what National used to sell between 49-20 a year. They cannot be promoted if the conditions make it evident to the young people that they are not expected to be responsible for their own homesthat they are, in fact, to be discouraged and told to take their place in the queue for State houses. But Kinga Oras housing development programme far outweighs the number of houses sold, with 2813 state homes having been built since June 2018 and a further 2596 under construction. READ MORE: * Woman told rats gnawing through pipes in state house 'not a health risk' * Slight delay for New Plymouth's KiwiBuild project due to Covid-19 * Construction begins on Timaru Kinga Ora units * Kinga Ora takes troublesome tenants to tribunal. None had been built. Having raised rentals and lowered income limits for new tenants, the government turned its attention to the sale of state houses. Building new homes would help soak up the jobless and give them skills. Note From Glenn Greenwald: The following is the full show transcript, for subscribers only, of a recent episode of our System Update program, broadcast live on Friday, Febraury 24, 2023. A prime example being the Kiwibuild shambles that promised affordable homes. Indeed, the paper concluded, the picture that emerges is of an ungrateful state-house tenant evading her legal and moral responsibilities. "Mr Speaker, it's 31 for 2 and time is marching on. But over that same period, Kinga Ora ended a lease, sold or demolished 1900. Despite escalating building costs, it had refused to raise rents. Queen Elizabeth II is not like you and me.Did you know she is immune from prosecution' That she has her own personal poet, paid in Sherry wine' Or that she holds dominion over British swans and can fire the entire Australian government'It's true that her role as the British head of state is largely ceremonial, and the Monarch no longer holds any serious power from day to day. In late October 1950 David and Mary McGregorreceived a letter from the SAC inviting them to buytheir home for the modest sum of 2200. This time the couple were receptive. Reports that she was in rent arrears and had damaged the property (something she denied) meant there could be little public sympathy for her plight. As one trade unionist explained: The urban toiler preferred to live in the immediate vicinity of his work, and resorted to overcrowding when suitable dwellings were not available. An increase might have forced some tenants to leave, compromising its security-oftenure promise. Her new rent was for a two-bedroom unit, and she was now entitled to only a one-bedroom place, but there was a chronic shortage of one-bedroom dwellings, forcing her to pay for the extra room. What they needed was encouragement to reverse the spiral and support themselves. Housing was a key issue of the 2017 New. Advice and support for farmers, growers, whenua Mori owners, and rural communities. Overcrowding became acute. The National Government sold state houses in the 1990s but kept a reduced state house building programme. This set the general pattern for the next half-century, with Labour-led governments restricting sales and National-led governments encouraging them. But this hands-off approach did not benefit everyone. . Kinga Ora figures show that, under National, in the 2014 financial year it sold 598 homes and built 398, in the 2015 financial year it sold 492 and built 724 and in the 2016 financial year it sold 308 and built 409. The historic . One of the first matters for the new housing department to settle was where to build the state houses. Property. Finally, it replaced the profit focus of Housing New Zealand with a new brief: To meet the Crowns social objectives in a business-like manner. Following the recent death of her mother, the lease on the familys three-bedroom state house was now void. As housing researcher Charles Waldegrave notes: Prior to the reforms, at least those in state houses on a benefit, paid an affordable rent and kept 75% of their residual after tax income, while those in the private sector rentals struggled with market rents. Many of the sales were to foreign buyers who had neither citizenship nor residency. However, in some circumstances selling a property would be considered, she said. Nicola Willis, who took the housing portfolio in a recent reshuffle, told RNZ the net reduction in state houses under the last National government showed that governments needed to continue increasing the number of state houses. In the lead up to the 2017 election Labour said if elected it would immediately end the sale of state houses. This would have brought the total state-housing stock to just over 50,000, down from 70,000 in 1993. That included when a property was too old and expensive to maintain, no longer met tenants needs, or was not in the right place to meet demand, she said. Find out how we can help if you're moving house. Surely it was better to build workers homescloser to central-city workplaces. HON. Discovery) - All Rights Reserved, By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Access and Privacy Policy. Willis accepted there was net loss of state houses under National. How, therefore, did the stepping-stone scenario arise? THE NATIONAL FINANCES. Unlimited access to every NZGeo story ever written and hundreds of hours of natural history documentaries on all your devices. These qualities are of the utmost importance in successful family life and national strength. Adjustment, promised the SAC, would be made easier by the teaching of modern home management, including instruction in the use of electrical appliances and the care of the home. But Olivia was no martyr, asserted the Herald. Refugees, such as Nay from Myanmar, are among those who benefit from state housing. The most radical experiment in the history of state housing was at an end. They were meant to make housing more affordable for all low-income people; however, research suggests the reverse happened. There are always consequences to policies and they cant have it all there way and this point needs to be raised. She found herself in a catch-22. It was hardly inspiring stuff and Labour was soundly defeated. The first state house For more than a century the state has provided rental homes for tens of thousands of New Zealanders unable to afford a home of their own. It was a buyers market and they used it to cut a deal 300 lower than the original asking price. It appears as though the reformed housing policy simply equalised everyone downwards to the insecure level of those in private sector rentals. HAS THE POPE ASKED THEM TO CONFESS THEIR SINS???????? This reflects different philosophies towards state-housing provision between the parties. It admitted the cost of deferred maintenance had risen to $1.5 billion and the matter had been discussed with social agencies that were considering buying state houses. They circulated a petition in support of her staying and organised a picket outside her home. Sydney has the second. A revised plan to relocate workers in suburban hamletswith room for a house, vegetable garden, chooks and a cowalso drew few takers. Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, soif you value having an independent voice going into this pandemic and 2020 election please donate here. Find out what's involved and how to go about it. Meanwhile we have 25,000 on the state house waiting list, up from just over 5,000 when Labour came to power in 2017. Related News Then came 1991. Sometimes the charges have been justified. State Opposition Leader Jodi McKay said desperate revenue raising was behind the fire sale. But the intervention of war had prevented the model from being adopted to an extent that would have undermined the cultural mindset that saw homeownership as best. Community housing providers. But the high cost of urban land made rebuilding expensive. National Party admits it sold too many state houses. Housing spokesperson Megan Woods was also staunchly critical. "Commitments to sell off state houses, remove restrictions on property speculation, and roll back protections for tenants show what's at stake this election," Woods said. Labour remains committed to building up the public housing stock, not tearing it down. And while Housing Minister Megan Woods continues to trumpet a bonanza. This measure enabled eligible workers to obtain cheap state credit to build their own homes, a process administered by a body called the State Advances Corporation (SAC). This Government has made it a priority to increase the supply of warm, dry, healthy housing. Government House Wellington runs free, guided tours for individuals, groups and schools. Little said state housing was a "significant issue" and the Government should have made its plans public during the election campaign. Expect to hear but Kiwibuild! exit all National MPs mouths at least three times a minute from now until the election. But Clark Hennessy, Bennetts spokesperson, said no such meeting took place and that network convenor John Minto was making stuff up. 27/07/2021. Soon similar dwellings were popping up in each of the four main cities. Research in the 1970s supported Nationals claim that owner-occupiers had a greater commitment to their communities and were more house-proud, providing a model for state tenants to imitate. Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson. ( like the power companies experiment) And to add to it all they used the proceeds to make them look like they were good economic managers to boost there budget coffers. Community-housing providers were not equipped to pick up the state houses that would be sold off and offer a "highly-sophisticated, complex" housing rental system. The failure to entice workers to settle beyond city limits was just one factor that led to the Liberals decision to build state houses. In November 2022, the nationwide median house price plunged by 12.4% to NZ$ 810,000 (US$510,557) compared to a year ago, in stark contrast to the whopping 23.8% y-o-y growth in November 2021, according to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ). Aurora Flags and Banners Inc We are constantly increasing our inventory check back often for new and updated feather flag designs. But until now, Labour hadnt been speaking about the continuation of a policy to let state house tenants buy their own homes the policy National proposed at the election. To some extent the government had only itself to blamefor its burgeoning waiting list. While these areas have been criticised as ghettos, the concentration has helped to fosterthrough the construction of urban marae and cultural groupsMaori urban communities. In an attempt to address the critical housing shortage, one of the new government's first moves was to establish a Department of Housing Construction, headed by John A. Lee. During the three-year life of the scheme close to 1800 houses were bought in this way; but in the same period nearly 10,000 other state houses were sold outside the scheme. Income-related rent subsidies would also be opened up to non-Housing NZ homes, Key said. Above all, homeownership promotes responsible citizenship. The housing reforms and an across-the-board cut in all welfare payments (excluding superannuation) were intended as a means to this end. Finance Minister Bill English, who is also the minister responsible for Housing New Zealand, answered on the Prime Minister's behalf. Before, I could get angry. The lowest priced home was sold for $38,000 and the highest sold for $1.7m. The removal men began unpacking. Some state houses are in such a state it's better that we get rid of them. Carr, One Tree Hill, Auckland: For the first time in my life since Ive been married, I am independent, and I like it. An inherent tension in the reforms was the brief for Housing New Zealand to meet both business and social objectives. 2006 - Housing New Zealand Corporation administers Housing Innovation demonstration fund established to fund third sector social housing. But being nearly an hours travel by foot and train from Wellington, it was the back of beyond for most workers. Policy function moved from Housing New Zealand Corporation to the Department of Building and Housing. But this target was never reached. These opportunists, National believed, were responsible for the blow-out of the state-housing waiting list, which now stood at 45,000. It has invested more in public housing than any other Government in decades, and is on track to deliver 18,350 public and transitional housing places by the end of 2024, the spokeswoman said. Willis said National sold or converted a couple of thousand state homes. "It's actually not a long-term solution.".
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