NZ’s complex housing problem
Houses lying idle as the queues of homeless grow. It’s not an easy fix, reports Katarina Williams.
Buried in the blizzard of Budget papers that blew through last month was a $50 million increase to emergency housing funding – a jump of 70 per cent on the previous year.
The money, to be administered as special needs grants, will largely be used to pay for motels or hostels for those in urgent need of somewhere to stay, who are unable to access transitional or longer-term public housing.
But as more than 11,000 applicants patiently await proper social housing, 1261 public houses across the country were sitting vacant at the end of March, Housing New Zealand (HNZ) has confirmed.
The factors at play in this state house shuffle vary.
Almost 300 are awaiting repairs, 287 are sitting idle while a decision on their redevelopment is made, and a further 297 properties are on their way out of the portfolio, some earmarked for sale or demolition.
With an immediate solution not forthcoming, the Government is heeding the calls from social agencies to accelerate state house construction.
While its flagship KiwiBuild programme has foundered, 2700 state homes are now under construction, and a further 1389 are due for completion by next July.
THE HUMAN FACE OF THE SOCIAL HOUSING VOID
South Auckland solo mother-oftwo Jenny is among those who are searching for urgent housing assistance.
As Jenny is a victim of domestic violence, Stuff has agreed to keep her real name private to protect her safety.
Jenny has a teenage son who is wheelchair-bound and is receiving regular treatment at Starship children’s hospital for a rare, life-threatening health condition.
Together, Jenny cares for her ailing son and young baby in a small two-bedroom Housing New Zealand property.
Despite applying for a transfer to a three-bedroom house in October and being ranked high on the priority list, the family continues to make do with a space that is far from meeting their complex needs.
As her son is very sick, Jenny can’t work.
She even decided against asking for a property with wheelchair access, to improve her family’s chances of being placed.
She doesn’t want any special treatment. Instead, the family’s request is simple – ‘‘Please give us more space. Urgently.’’
‘‘Waiting? It’s indescribable. Especially, the small house that I’m in. I’m in a standalone house, but you couldn’t even say it’s a unit.
‘‘They said to me if I want any modifications in regards to my transfer or wheelchair accessibility, they said to me, I’ll probably be waiting another six months, so I didn’t ask for any of that,’’ Jenny says.
In order to increase her chances, Jenny offered to relocate to other parts of the Auckland region – but nothing has come up.
So she continues to bide her time, struggling but doing the best she can.
‘‘They’re just like, ‘Oh you’ve got to wait.’ But the last call I did have with MSD [Ministry of Social Development] about 21⁄2 weeks ago; the MSD call centre guy was quite concerned.
‘‘He was like, ‘You know what, I don’t know why you’re not housed yet’ . . . so it’s quite frustrating.’’
With no other family, Jenny tries to make ends meet using food grants and paying whatever she can for childcare when she needs to take her son to hospital for treatment.
But instead of allowing herself to be weighed down by her predicament, Jenny adopts a pragmatic approach. ‘‘There isn’t much we can do. We can’t go backwards, we just have to go forwards.’’
PUBLIC HOUSING WAIT NUMBERS BALLOON
And it seems Jenny’s plight is far from unique. Official figures show an upswing in the number of people awaiting placement in a ‘‘public house’’ – the name MSD has adopted over what used to be commonly referred to as a ‘‘state house’’.
At the end of March, 11,067 applicants were on the needs-based list, a record high and a 40 per cent increase from March 2018.
This category also includes households with ‘‘a severe and persistent housing need that must be addressed immediately. The household is unable to access and/or sustain suitable, adequate and affordable alternative housing’’. Regionally, the picture remains bleak. Unsurprisingly, the greatest demand is in the Auckland supercity area, where 4409 applicants await public housing according to the March 2019 Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) quarterly report, up from 4363 in the previous quarter.
However, the top increases by percentage compared with March 2018 were Waikato (83 per cent or 424 applicants), Canterbury (48 per cent or 327 applicants), Northland (47 per cent or 130 applicants) and Bay of Plenty (47 per cent or 229 applicants).
An HUD spokesman has also pointed to ‘‘rising rents, increased competition for private rental properties, coupled with fewer exits from public housing’’ as contributing factors to increasing demand.
‘‘It’s simply a supply and demand equation. There simply aren’t enough houses available to meet the increasing need. Demand for public housing has increased significantly in recent years,’’ the spokesman says.
MOTELS – OUR MAKESHIFT EMERGENCY HOUSING MODEL
It appears the Government has also conceded the lack of state housing supply is not a problem it can fix immediately.
Budget documents show an additional $50m has been allocated in the 2019/20 financial year to emergency housing special needs grants (SNGs) which cover temporary accommodation for those unable to access state houses.
It followed revelations the
Government granted $23m in funding for emergency housing in the first three months of 2019.
It reignited accusations from social agencies that moteliers were being allowed to profit from the nationwide housing crisis which was being driven by rent increases, stagnating benefit levels and the slow building rate of new public houses.
Auckland Action Against Poverty (AAAP) believes the best way to decrease the reliance on motels is to get building.
‘‘The Government needs to ramp up the target of state homes being built if it is serious about making a dent on the social housing waiting list,’’ says AAAP co-ordinator Ricardo Menendez March.
He says the current target of constructing 6400 additional state homes in four years would only cater for just over half of those waiting for houses.
‘‘In the long run, building enough state homes would help alleviate the ballooning costs of $36m a year in subsidising moteliers through emergency housing grants, and the
$1.7 billion going to subsidising private rentals through the accommodation supplement.’’
The use of motels for vulnerable Ministry of Social Development clients has been criticised by a number of parties, including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who said she had a ‘‘real aversion’’ to their use.
However, Ardern said the dearth of social housing meant it was a better alternative to allowing people to sleep in cars.
A Stuff investigation in February this year revealed concerning conditions at the Auckland Astro Motel, an O¯ tahuhu property dubbed a ‘‘rat hole not worth a dollar’’ by a former guest.
Among the complaints were sheets that weren’t changed for more than three weeks, a shower without a grate over it, the discovery of maggots and cockroaches in communal fridges and poor levels of cleanliness.
Despite receiving $1m more than any other emergency housing accommodation provider in the country between October 2016 and June 2018, it still does not have a Code Compliance Certificate – an offence under the Building Act.
The investigation prompted authorities to carry out a stocktake of the motels used for emergency housing, with officials indicating new standards were likely to be introduced.
The findings of the stocktake were recently released. However, the ‘‘quality and service stocktake’’ focus was narrow – largely focusing on SNG motels where complaints were received between February 28 and March 15 this year.
Complaints about antisocial behaviour, including gang activity, was one of the most consistent themes, as well as issues with dirty and old facilities, and others criticising motel owners’ interactions with vulnerable guests.
Thirty-nine complaints,
including 10 from MSD clients in Canterbury motels, were received in the two-week period.
After the stocktake, MSD deputy chief executive Viv Rickard said ministerial staff visited motels to make sure they were up to standard – and he says most of them were.
‘‘We’re doing our best to stay in close contact with moteliers and we are dealing with any service or compliance issues, alongside the relevant regulatory authority, as they arise,’’ Rickard said.
Phil Twyford, who lost the role of housing minister last week, but is still part of a housing team led by Megan Woods, has received advice from officials on how the Government can make sure motels receiving taxpayer funding met appropriate standards.
At present, there are ‘‘no standards’’ tied to SNGs, despite Twyford telling Parliament in February that this would change.
‘‘The motel quality is, therefore, regulated only by the local council. I do not consider this to be acceptable,’’ Twyford says.
THE GOVERNMENT’S ‘HUNGRY TASK’
Officials aim to increase public housing supply by 6400 places by 2022, and have announced they will invest a further $197m in Housing First, a programme aimed at housing those with complex needs like mental health and addiction issues, to address supply issues.
However, the Government also has work to do to ensure its existing stock is meeting the needs of those awaiting housing.
With the average age of a state house sitting at 49 years, most were constructed in the ‘‘threebedroom quarter-acre section’’ era.
Nowadays, those in need of a state house are seeking one- or two-bedroom properties, or those with four or more bedrooms.
‘‘While there is a strong demand for all property types, around 78 per cent of demand on the Housing Register is for one and two-bedroom properties,’’ an HUD spokesperson says.
This shift in demand has created problems for HNZ, which says adapting to current demand is a ‘‘continuous, major, lengthy and resource-hungry task’’.
‘‘We’re seeking to rapidly increase the number of one and two-bedroom places with smaller properties representing around 72 per cent of places being sought through the Ministry’s Public Housing Plan,’’ the spokesman says.
The Government agency says ensuring the state house stock is fit for purpose is a significant part of its role.