Leggett slams housing plan
‘A buck pass, if ever there was one’
Porirua mayor Nick Leggett says it’s a ‘‘nonsense’’ to blame local councils for housing issues and poverty. Finance Minister Bill English said last week that local government planning rules are a major cause of poverty and inequality because they drive up the price of houses.
Leggett said he was not claiming local government was perfect.
‘‘My position is that to suggest that local government is creating child poverty by what they do with planning and regulation on subdivisions is a nonsense,’’ he said.
‘‘What a buck pass, if ever there was one.
‘‘Local government is an arm of central government – if central government don’t like something they can legislate. If they don’t like something councils are doing they can force us to do things differently.’’
Leggett said the offer of land to build affordable homes on was still there, and more could be made available.
‘‘It’s not a freebie. It would have to be at market price, but we could move really quickly on that. Partnered with an NGO or government we could work out a way to fast-track some of the issues that sometimes slow things up.’’
Mana MP Kris Faafoi said he’d like to see National take up Labour’s Kiwibuild promise of building 52 affordable homes in the electorate, even if his party did not get credit for it.
‘‘ If 52 families can get into affordable homes and we can create jobs out of it, it’s a win,’’ he said.
Their comments were made after the National-led Government announced in would shift the focus from state housing to ‘‘ social housing’’, which potentially means selling off some of Housing New Zealand’s homes.
Although plans are yet to be detailed, the Government has confirmed it will sell some houses to either not-for-profit organisations like the Salvation Army or to private buyers.
Though there might be some promise in what the Government was doing, the move held significant risks, Leggett said.
‘‘I’m sure when it’s all going peachy it’s fine, but it makes it easier for future governments to move out of housing completely and that’s a real worry.
‘‘What we know from recent cases in Porirua is that while most private landlords are responsible and provide good homes, there’s nothing forcing them to ensure the house is of a certain standard.
‘‘So you’ve got people living in conditions that are not acceptable and contribute to ill-health.’’
Kapi-Mana News published a story last week about bullying tactics being used by private landlords against tenants who asked for their damp, dilapidated homes to be brought up to standard.
Potential social housing providers spoken to by Kapi-Mana News said that without any specific plans it was hard to know if the shift would address some of Porirua’s housing issues, but that it could be a part of the solution.
Salvation Army Porirua’s emergency housing co-ordinator Ebony Ngatoko said housing was scarce in the city and private rentals were very expensive, but NGOs could be part of the fix.
‘‘Absolutely give [state housing] to the NGOs. They would do a better job.’’
Presbyterian Support Central chief executive Chris Graham said his organisation was listening closely to what the Government was saying.
‘‘We’re not clear exactly how we would provide social housing – are we talking about taking existing social housing and gifting it? On what terms and conditions?’’ Graham said.
‘‘All that sort of detail really needs to be fleshed out.’’