WHAT ARE THESE FUNDS?
HIF - The Housing Innovation Fund. The HIF provides funding support for community sector and iwi housing organisations. The fund is administered by Housing NZ and aims to provide social housing that targets:
   * households whose housing needs are not fully met by Housing New Zealand or the private market, such as Māori and Pacific peoples, older people and people with disabilities * low or moderate-income households whose housing needs are not met in the private market but for whom no suitable alternative exists.”

RHP - The Rural Housing Program. Also administered by Housing NZ the RHP provides funds to help repair substandard housing in rural districts.
It is possible to find the discussions in the house between Phil Heatley and Sue Bradford on the Parliament website here. The conversation didn’t appear to be as conclusive as Sue Bradford feared (although that is perhaps not surprising when everything in the house has a tone of attack and defend). Yet anything that even hints at cuts to opportunity for improvement to substandard housing for low income families is a concern.
What caught my eye about this story was the possibilities that exist for churches to get involved in securing funds for housing estates and substandard living areas in their neighborhoods. There are a few other trusts out there who also provide financial help for things like insulation. One thing is clear, advocating, getting funding, and getting work done in an area is easier if you have a group involved. Does anyone out there know of a church involved in these areas?

“When the house you live in is sub-standard there are consequences for the family like ill health, poor attendance at school, all of which have wide ranging downstream effects. We have more than enough evidence to show that the social conditions of families, including factors such as poverty and inadequate housing, will affect future health.”

A consultation paper on housing published January this year by statistics New Zealand says:

The physical quality of housing is of public policy interest because of its links with individual and family wellbeing. Investing in good quality housing can result in improvements in health outcomes among groups that are living in badly constructed and older homes. Homes that need repair can increase the risk of injury for occupants; these homes are associated with cold and damp living conditions and are a threat to health. Poor health outcomes can have a flow-on effect on outcomes in other areas, such as education, paid work, and economic standard of living. More research shows that housing conditions and the neighbourhood in which a child is raised affect that child’s wellbeing. Also, evidence from a major British cohort study shows that the effects of poor housing conditions are cumulative over life.    

It seems incredibly unhelpful to have such isolated budgets for all every separate purpose. Since the flow on effects of poverty [or in the case poor housing] is so apparent why can’t money allocated for educational improvement or business development be spent on housing insulation and upgrades? And when we can appreciate the long term effects in areas such as health why not other areas? For example, Instead of spending money on bigger prisons and longer sentences, spend the money addressing poverty gaps, employment and assistance for parenting.

This is the “real housing affordability problem” highlighted in the latest instalment of the social justice information series being published by the New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services (NZCCSS ).

Let us all keep the focus on those in greatest need and those who might otherwise be invisible in the debate about ‘housing affordability’, says Trevor McGlinchey, NZCCSS Executive Officer.

The negative impact that poor quality housing has on families and children remains a major issue in Aotearoa New Zealand. Steps being taken to improve the quality of state houses are welcomed, but we also have to face issues such as the unmet demand for a greater quantity of both state (social) housing and housing funded through community based solutions such as housing trusts.

When political candidates in the upcoming Election are questioned about housing, we believe more questions need to be asked of them about housing issues beyond the ‘Kiwi dream’ of home ownership. We need to do more to protect the basic human right to adequate housing.

NZCCSS is providing relevant links and access to more information about housing issues. [Read More]

In July the New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services (NZCCSS) continues its election year call for greater awareness of key issues facing New Zealand by promoting the message that more action is needed to provide a valued place in our society for older people.

The fact that more people are living longer than ever before is something we should be celebrating as an outstanding achievement. Older New Zealanders make huge contributions to maintaining our social fabric through their life skills and life experience; as workers, as parents or grandparents, as caregivers and as active members of the community. Yet too often older people are portrayed as a burden on society, suffer from ageism, are exploited or even abused. Genuine issues of poverty, loneliness and sickness are too easily ignored.

NZCCSS argues that the realities of an ageing population put some fundamental challenges before all of us: Where and how shall we live? Who will be there to help us when it is needed? What choices will we be able to provide older people with? 

The second in the series of brochures published by NZCCSS for its member organisations, Church-based audiences and wider public, looks at the massive social change that our ageing population is bringing with it. This second part of a call for more action asks the question about how we value older people in our society? A central measure of value is the range of choices that will be available for older people who have few assets, low incomes and/ or high needs. A copy of the brochure is available to download here.

NZCCSS has summarised some of the key issues in a briefing given to Church Leaders [Read more]

We believe a just and compassionate society can be achieved by more action to:

• Support families and communities in nurturing and protecting our children as taonga.
• Provide older people with a range of choices for their homes, support and lifestyle.
• Utilise our nation’s prosperity responsibly to eliminate poverty.
• Enable access to good, affordable housing for everyone.
• Support community-based organisations to grow the spirit of aroha tetahi ki tetahi - looking after each other.

During the year a series of five discussion leaflets and posters is being produced to support the Call for More Action, the first of which was released in June.

“Are we looking after our children?” - when one in five of them are living in poverty. This is the central question behind the first part of the call for action - let us begin to really nurture and protect our children. Suggested actions for communities and individuals are included in the information that can be downloaded from  http://www.justiceandcompassion.org.nz/site/home.php  

We’ll keep you posted as new information comes to hand.

Any structures that serve to segregate our society by social and income strata will divide our society further into the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’, serving to alienate citizens from each other, undermining compassion, cooperation and open-mindedness, and deepening fear and misunderstanding of people who come from different political, social, cultural and attitudinal backgrounds than us.

Read full Dominion Post article here

The Hikoi of Hope calls on the government and community to urgently identify options to improve housing for low-income New Zealanders. Affordable housing is a cornerstone of any programme to reduce poverty. Without secure, stable and safe housing, children’s health and learning is hindered and opportunities for social and economic participation are seriously compromised.

Recent housing policy in New Zealand

The 1991 budget signalled an historic change to the way the government provides housing assistance to low-income New Zealanders. The most significant changes were:

- The introduction of market rents for state owned houses (instead of rent being set as a percentage – usually 25% – of a tenant’s income); and
- The introduction of an asset and income tested cash benefit, the Accommodation Supplement, as the only form of direct assistance for low-income tenants and home-owners in either public or private housing

At the time, it was argued that these changes would make the housing market more efficient and fair and address the problem that tenants in state houses received more assistance than people with similar needs who rented privately.

Increased costs

The NZ Council of Christian Social Services survey of food bank clients found that between 1994 and 1996, the number of state house tenants spending half or more of their income on their housing costs increased from 37.5% to 58.8%, and private tenants spending half or more of their income on rent increased from 58.9% to 62.7%.

In 1994, according to The Real Estate Institute, higher state rents led to an increase in all rents. Rental costs have increased by an average of 60% in the last decade while in the same period the overall Consumers’ Price Index increased by only 25% according to the recently released National Health Committee Report.

Overcrowding

The number of households with two or more families increased by 96% between 1986 and 1996 with most of this increase occurring between 1991 and 1996. There has been an increase in hospital admissions from childhood diseases that are known to be associated with overcrowding, including meningococcal disease and respiratory infections.

Insufficient houses

Contrary to expectations, since the disappearance of the Housing Corporation’s subsidised rents, private landlords have not increase their provision of housing at low rentals. Because this type of rental accommodation gives very low returns, it is not considered an attractive investment.

There is a continuing and increasing prevalence of serious housing need – up from 17,500 households in 1988 to 48,800 households in 1993, according to one study. The Ministry of Housing assessed the number of households in 1994 in serious housing need at between 20,000 and 30,000.

Housing costs are a major contributor to poverty in New Zealand

A recent Christchurch study identified accommodation costs as “…probably the issue having the biggest direct and indirect impact on the ability of limited income people to meet their basic needs” (Jamieson 1998). This is in line with results from the New Zealand Poverty Measurement Project, which showed that in 1993 housing costs were the single largest contributor to the “poverty gap”.

Community and social service agencies are seeing the real impact of increased accommodation costs on poverty. Rent was the single most frequently mentioned reason for seeking help from 45.5% of food bank clients surveyed in 1996. Until 1990 there were very few food banks in New Zealand. By February 1998 there were over 365.

The WIN on Poverty Campaign was declined a copy of the 1996 Colmar Brunton report on the Department of Social Welfare/Ministry of Housing survey “because of the extensive errors it contained”. However the Ministry’s own amended results (obtained under the Official Information Act) using March 1997 data showed that 32% of Accommodation Supplement recipients had $100 or less to cover all their living expenses after paying accommodation costs. 49% had $150 or less. These survey results were not made publicly available.

What does this all mean?

This evidence suggests that the current housing policy is far from meeting the real needs of low-income New Zealanders. The link between housing and poverty means that New Zealand cannot be a socially just nation without seriously addressing the issues and problems outlined above. There is an urgent need for change.

We can start by:

- Acknowledging the link between housing costs and poverty
- Acknowledging the existence of significant and serious housing problems in New Zealand
- In genuine consultation with community sector organisations, developing policies to address these problems

More

Sources:
Housing the Hungry: the third report, NZCCSS, 1996
Real Estate Institute 1995
The Social, Cultural and Economic Determinants of Health in New Zealand: Action to Improve Health, A Report from the National Advisory Committee on Health and Disability, 1998
The Extent of Serious Housing Need, Waldegrave and Sawrey, 1994
Measuring Poverty in New Zealand, R Stephens, C Waldegrave and P Frater, Social Policy Journal, December 1995
Foodbank Use in New Zealand, NZCCSS, 1998
WIN on Poverty Report, Women’s Information Network, 1998