Hon Phil Heatley
Minister of Housing
9 December 2010 Media Statement
Government acts on housing recommendations
Housing Minister Phil Heatley has today confirmed Cabinet’s acceptance of key recommendations made by the Housing
Shareholders Advisory Group (HSAG).
Providing good quality state housing to those most in need, for the duration of that need, is the main driver behind the
changes, Mr Heatley says.
"Growing the pool of affordable housing is essential to moving lower need state house tenants along the housing
continuum into private or community housing.
"We will be actively working with community housing providers of affordable homes, and on mechanisms to make the
provision of such housing attractive to potential suppliers."
To help achieve this, the Cabinet has agreed to key HSAG recommendations, including:
• Working more closely with non-government suppliers of affordable housing to improve supply
• Setting policy expectations that match dwellings to tenant needs
• Introducing reviewable tenancies for new tenants
• Actively managing the housing portfolio to match future demand
• Placing responsibility for housing related policy with one agency.
•
"Community organisations like the Housing Foundation, Salvation Army, Comcare, IHC and VisionWest have already
demonstrated they can successfully provide housing including specialist housing for the elderly and disabled," Mr
Heatley says.
"These providers can leverage funding and assets from a broad range of sources, they have access to wider skills,
specialisation and services and are often more competitive and innovative when it comes to design and production. We
have seen every dollar of Housing Innovation Fund money the Government has given deliver three dollars worth of
housing," he said.
Officials will work with community housing organisations over the coming months to identify the best way to address
current constraints and challenges to their growth. The Government is committed to ensuring significantly more houses
are available and the right framework is put in place to enable this to happen.
"The concept of the state providing a guaranteed state home for life, regardless of improvements in the personal
circumstances of tenants, is no longer sustainable or desirable," says Mr Heatley.
"Despite record levels of Government investment waiting lists in high demand areas continue to grow. Those in most
desperate need of a state house are held out of a property by those who are paying a market rent and could, in some
cases, move into the private rental market," he said.
"We need to focus HNZC efforts on looking after tenants in need. To do this we need to allow them to move tenants who no
longer need support out of a state house. They also need to be able to address the underutilisation of properties. It is
not right that a single person lives in a four or five-bedroom home, while families of six or more live in garages.
"In order to make this process clear and transparent Cabinet has agreed to implement reviewable tenancies for all new
state housing tenants from 1 July 2011.
"I want to reiterate that any changes made will not adversely affect current, elderly or infirm tenants,” he said.
One of the first steps will be to reduce the duplication in policy function between Housing New Zealand and the
Department of Building and Housing.
"Longer term we will work with the Ministry of Social Development to see how we can integrate assessment of housing
needs with assessments for wider social support which will also reduce unnecessary duplication between government
departments," he says.
"Other key pieces of advice we have asked for include a programme to develop the role of iwi, hapu and Pasifika as
providers of social housing, as well as recommendations on improving the performance of housing assistance," he said.
"There is a great deal of work to be done, but the first steps are already underway."
ENDS