Nats abandon social housing target

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, July 15th, 2016 - 22 comments
Categories: housing, national, useless - Tags: , , ,

As part of their “comprehensive” response to the housing crisis, the Nats are backing off their promise on social housing. Simon Collins in The Herald reports :

Government abandons social housing target of 65,000

The Government has abandoned a target of increasing the numbers of subsidised social housing places to 65,000, despite growing reports of families living in cars and garages.

A pre-Budget report released by the Treasury today shows that the target for social housing places has been cut from 65,000 to 64,100, apparently for fiscal reasons.

Labour housing spokesman Phil Twyford said it was “a broken promise”. “It’s just more evidence of this Government running down of state housing and social housing in the midst of a housing crisis.” …

As a bonus, we’re actually going backwards instead:

But the Budget documents show that the number of social housing places actually dropped to 60,260 by the end of last month, mainly because Housing NZ and other providers have been selling and demolishing existing houses in redevelopment areas such as Tamaki at a faster rate than they have been building new ones.

Brighter future. Cusp of something special. Comprehensive housing plan. Words words words.

22 comments on “Nats abandon social housing target ”

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  1. Keith 1
    15 July 2016 at 7:54 am

    I see the minister for Maori development photo opping in on local social housing initiative in Kaitaia. Oh the irony is Rhino hide thick, much like the ministers total unawareness.

    He of course is firmly part of a government that is the cause of so many negative social issues so when a community is forced to somehow do the governments job and house the destitute, working poor or otherwise, he cashes in.

    Te Ururoa Flavell should instead resign. Have you no shame?

    • Michelle 1.1
      15 July 2016 at 9:13 am

      Agree with you Keith I believe that is precisely why not many Maori voted for them. But they (Maori Party) believe it is better to be in the tent rather than outside of it and this is an old argument and it does have some validity. While they have made some meaningful gains for Maori and based on the poor statistics of Maori that is good but at the same time they have done some damage by selling of our HNZ houses at a bad time. HNZ have never been good to our people ( Maori ) we were always allocated housing in the Bronxs, mainly poorer areas near industrial sites in blocks of flats etc And now we see refugees getting nice single dwelling HNZ houses. This really makes me angry not because the refugees got a nice house but because they have been treated much better than us. We should be ashamed of this in our country when so many of our Maori men and potential leaders went to war and made the ultimate sacrifice only for their people to be treated like shit by the state and there employees. I know first hand about this. I have experienced it and so have many of my family and friends under both the National and Labour Governments. Lastly I get sick and tired of hearing too many ignorant NZers saying ‘we all had the same opportunities’ when that is simply not true and how would they know unless they have walked in our shoes.

    • leftie 1.2
      16 July 2016 at 5:12 pm

      Well said Keith. And didn’t the Maori Party support National’s legislation to sell state houses? It was Flavell that interfered with Maori broadcasting for his National party masters, that saw the awesome Mihingarangi Forbes quit Maori TV last year.

      A vote for the Maori party is a vote for National.

  2. Muttonbird 2
    15 July 2016 at 7:59 am

    This article lays out some very bare OIAed facts. Makes for grim reading.

    http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/82009360/Housing-New-Zealands-biggest-loser

    • Gangnam Style 2.1
      15 July 2016 at 8:54 am

      “”There is very little demand in many smaller and rural areas, and it makes sense for us to reinvest proceeds from sales of houses in low-demand areas, so we can build more in high-demand areas,” she said.
      “Places like Auckland are high-demand – so we’re aiming to increase the number of properties we have there.”
      But since a peak of 31,025 homes in Auckland in 2011, the city had lost 851 homes by 2016.” – Lies, lies & damn lies. HNZ has become very Orwellian, where their title makes it sound like they are there to provide housing whereas infact they are doing there best to dismantle state housing, shame on them.

      • Sabine 2.1.1
        15 July 2016 at 9:08 am

        they do as

        Mr. Bill English – All the Dividends are mine, and I double dip.
        Ms. Paula Bennett – Yes I am vile and mean, but I got my benefits and yours.
        Mr. Nick Smith – They call me incompetent but i mean it.
        Mr. John Key – They call me the smiling assassin and you thought i be the right person to have a beer with. Yeah, right Tui.

        tell them to do. That is, sell State owned Assets by any means necessary and State Houses are State owned Assets. It is that simple.

        Essentially what these guys need to be asked is if they have the intention to sell our State Houses until the very last one, or if they are going to keep 1 State House to keep up appearance.

        What do we expect, that they finally show some sort of social conscience? That they finally come around to doing right? Why? Why the fuck would anyone think that.

  3. Greg 3
    15 July 2016 at 8:13 am

    I’d assume its a statistical assessment from the bean counters, doing more creative accounting exercises. And minus the number of people whom actually want to live on the street, cause its fun.
    It can all then be reasonably justified with the Prime Ministers Tory cabal of social reality deniers.

  4. Ad 4
    15 July 2016 at 8:17 am

    That Tamaki Transformation Project needs a good stern ruler run over it. 5 years and stuff all results. Started under National.

    Whereas Hobsonville, started under Labour, is going great guns. (Not saying it cures affordability)

    • Muttonbird 4.1
      15 July 2016 at 8:41 am

      It did until the member for Helensville vetoed the affordable and social part of Hobsonsonville when he got the chance, calling it economic vandalism.

      On the 1.67 km² of Crown land, about 3,000 homes are to be built (in addition to facilities such as parks and schools). Of the homes, 85% will be privately owned, while around 15% were to be state housing social rentals financed by Housing New Zealand and dispersed throughout Hobsonville.

      However, the setting aside of a good portion of land for state housing was criticised as an economic mistake by New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key, as this would lower land and house values in Hobsonville. Once elected to government in 2008, John Key removed the state housing requirements from Hobsonville Point and instead introduced a ‘gateway housing’ scheme to help first-time home buyers. His actions have been criticised by Labour, some calling Key a hypocrite, as Key himself benefited from the nation’s state housing programme as a child.

      Meanwhile, the reality for those looking for these so called affordable house are having trouble finding them.

      http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/308683/hunting-for-an-'affordable'-auckland-home

      • Gangnam Style 4.1.1
        15 July 2016 at 8:50 am

        “as this would lower land and house values” – well there it is, stark naked for all to see, National Party Values = greed.

    • TC 4.2
      15 July 2016 at 9:48 am

      Yes and how much have private interests profitted from the public assets that national evicted people from.

    • Keith 4.3
      15 July 2016 at 10:10 am

      You know damn well that the Tamaki redevelopment scan is all about carving up state housing for private developers to cash in on. Yes there is a sop to some social housing and yes somehow Auckland Council got suckered into this to give it a veneer of respectability but it is what it is, a property speculators wet dream!

      • TC 4.3.1
        15 July 2016 at 11:09 am

        Wtf hasn’t twyford launched OIA requests to find out !

        Safe in his electoral seat now he needs to up the pace and exposure on this scam national ran that caused huge personal distress, got hone arrested and made developers a bundle off public assets right under everyones nose.

        Theres extra tension in tamaki now as new home owners sneer at the public tenants having paid alot to get into the market swallowing the nat spin about ‘choices’ feed by the hoskins, henrys etc.

  5. esoteric pineapples 5
    15 July 2016 at 9:12 am

    “apparently for fiscal reasons.” – the elephant in the room.

  6. save nz 6
    15 July 2016 at 9:34 am

    National are a virus on society.

    Maori party are a joke supporting them for 8 years. They have made everything worse for Maori and everyone else! Not only that under TPPA, Maori are going to lose big time. Do they really think the investor resolution is going to keep the Waitangi treaty agreement, it has been hard enough in the NZ courts.

    As usual Key is out and about in Europe networking for personal gain and avoiding the crisis.

  7. Draco T Bastard 7
    15 July 2016 at 10:29 am

    Nats abandon social housing target

    I’m pretty sure that their actual social housing target of 0 still stands.

  8. Bill 8
    15 July 2016 at 11:15 am

    Nice of ‘the herald’ to keep rolling with the bullshit dichotomy of in a car or in a house as though that captures the problem.

    It isn’t that simplistic.

    Insecure tenancies, shoddy houses, sky high rents…the comprehensive list is a kind of long one.

  9. millsy 9
    16 July 2016 at 12:58 am

    Most private landlords vote National and they don’t like being ‘crowded out’ by social housing.

    • Draco T Bastard 9.1
      16 July 2016 at 1:18 am

      That’s always their basic excuse for destroying anything that the community has built – that it crowds out private enterprise. Unfortunately, people actually believe the BS not realising that it’s private enterprise that costs so much that we have poverty.