Insecure rentals now rights issue

The new Government has promised to stop the state-house sell-off.

‘‘God’’ can go home and Judge Moses said so.

A 37-year-old Christchurch man has consistently claimed to be God since he was arrested in July.

He has treated his time in custody as something of an affront, telling judges that locking up God was treason.

Friday was meant to be his Day of Judgment, but police were not ready.

Judge Jonathan Moses granted an adjournment in the Christchurch District Court. And he released the man on bail.

‘‘God’’ asked if he could start by getting a lift back to the prison, because his paperwork and his shoes – possibly sandals? – were still there. The private rental market is forcing low-income Kiwis to move too often, the human rights watchdog has told the new Government.

In its briefing to incoming Justice Minister Andrew Little, the Human Rights Commission points to housing as a serious human rights issue that is likely stopping New Zealand from meeting its international obligations to uphold human rights.

The commission suggested an increase in secure social housing to combat New Zealand’s rate of ‘‘residential mobility’’ – where almost one in five Kiwis move every year.

This is the highest rate of moving in the Western world, and close to twice the rate in Britain.

Most of this moving occurs in the private rental market, and many of the people moving are part of low-income families.

‘‘Families with children, particularly one-parent and Ma¯ori and Pacific families, experience much higher levels of discrimination in the private rental market,’’ Human Rights Commission officials wrote in their briefing.

Housing in general had developed into a ‘‘major human rights issue with multiple effects on people’s health and wellbeing’’, particularly children.

A 2015 Government report showed 19.6 per cent of households moved every year. Almost one in three children in low income families moved early in their lives, compared with about one in five children in high income families. promised to stop the state-house sell-off and to build at least 2000 new state homes.

A separate briefing on the state housing situation released on Thursday suggested the number of state homes already in the pipeline was not enough to meet current demand.

Close to 6000 eligible families were waiting for state homes as of September 2017, up 72 per cent over the previous two years.

In the view of the commission, the problems in housing were so serious that New Zealand would need to seriously change things in order to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development goal 11: that all people have access to safe adequate and affordable housing by 2030.

New Zealand had signed up for this human rights commitment but was not yet on its way to meeting it.