New lease of life for used cars

Government vehicles could find a new life as cars for lower-income families under a scheme devised at an Auckland financial inclusion forum last month.

The Financial Inclusion Industry Forum was a watershed meeting to forge a partnership between a government intent on breaking cycles of debt-induced poverty, community groups, and banks and other lenders.

Ministers Kris Faafoi and Carmel Sepuloni have given the government agencies, community groups and private companies involved until October to get pilot schemes organised.

Three of the pilot schemes being considered are to get lower income families into reliable, safe cars, funded with loans that don’t suck up so much of their income it tips them into poverty.

One idea was for a scheme where a supply of second-hand vehicles was organised, with banks and second-tier lenders providing loans to lower income families buying them.

There were two other possible affordable motoring pilots.

‘‘Tens of thousands of cars are leased by the government and corporates,’’ Lyn McMorran from the Financial Services Federation, which is leading the project, said.

When no longer needed, she said: ‘‘They just get sold. What if we harnessed that pool of vehicles and leased them to people who meet the criteria?’’

Another idea was the creation of community ride sharing schemes in lower-income areas.