Housing crisis sparks ‘desperation’
Northland’s small towns see people living on the streets for the first time as social housing waiting lists soar. Denise Piper reports.
NORTHLAND’S housing crisis is described as a ‘‘matter of desperation’’, as small towns see people living on the streets for the first time.
Rising house prices, population growth from Auckland, and the impacts of Covid-19 are being blamed for the problem, as the region’s social housing waiting list soars.
Since late 2017, the number of Tai Tokerau families on Ka¯ inga Ora’s housing register ballooned 600 per cent, from 234 in December 2017 to 1402 in December last year. The trend has continued since then, with the list increasing by 70 (5 per cent) in just three months to last month.
About a quarter of those on the waiting list are elderly.
Jeff Murray, Ka¯ inga Ora regional director Te Tai Tokerau, blames the increase on population growth and rising house prices: ‘‘The underlying issue is people moving into Northland – with Auckland becoming increasingly unaffordable, they’re going back to their wha¯ nau and land that they’re associated with.’’
Kaipara district with a 1200 per cent increase in the housing register since 2017 – was particularly badly impacted, Murray said. ‘‘As people are being priced out of Whanga¯ rei, they are going to Dargaville and buying homes that might otherwise be rented, reducing the number of rentals in Dargaville.’’
Ka¯ inga Ora, formerly Housing New Zealand, has always known demand was greater than what was on its register, so the increase could also be more people coming forward for social housing, he said.
Haami Piripi, chairman of Te Rarawa, which works with
Ka¯ inga Ora to provide housing in Kaita¯ ia, said another problem was lack of infrastructure for new houses. A Te Rarawa development of 30 houses couldn’t get off the ground because of a lack of wastewater capacity, he said.
The iwi owns houses and kauma¯ tua [elderly] flats, but wants to do more to help its people, Piripi said.
‘‘It’s a matter of desperation. ‘‘For the first time in my life, we have people literally living on the streets in Kaita¯ ia, and there’s something wrong with that picture.’’
In Whanga¯ rei, homelessness has been exacerbated by Covid-19, according to Whanga¯ rei District councillor Ken Couper.
‘‘Covid has not struck fairly – some have done well and others have really suffered.’’
The housing crisis reflected greater inequities in society that affect everyone, Couper said. ‘‘Everything is getting so out of whack. If you try to buy a house on a single income these days it’s extremely difficult – there are a whole lot of reasons why people find themselves either unable to buy a house, unable to rent a house or losing a house.’’
In acknowledgement of Whanga¯ rei’s significant housing problem, the council is developing a long-term housing strategy, driven by a committee of three hapu¯ and three council representatives, including Couper. All organisations – including the council, Government agencies, iwi, developers, community housing providers – needed to understand their role in helping fix the housing crisis, he said.
For its part, Ka¯ inga Ora is building 140 new state homes in Tai Tokerau over the next 15 months, with the work focused in
Whanga¯ rei, Kaita¯ ia and Kaikohe. Under the Public Housing Plan, the agency will build 310 new houses on its own land by June 2024, bringing the total number of state houses in Northland to 2557, Murray said.
But the 310 new houses would meet just one fifth of the current demand on the housing register.
Murray said Ka¯ inga Ora was also working with private developers, funding them to build additional state houses on their own land in Tai Tokerau, and was looking for more of these partnerships. But he said the agency must keep within the Government’s budget for the national Public Housing Plan, and it would not be building 1400 new houses in Northland to meet the demand.
Couper said while social housing was a large part of the response to the housing crisis, it was not the only part of the picture.
‘‘In Whanga¯ rei we all acknowledge it’s not just social housing or emergency housing – it’s affordable housing for firsthome buyers, and affordable housing in the right place for the jobs available . . . It’s rural development for people with land and papa ka¯ inga [on communal Ma¯ ori land].’’
Intensifying homes on Ka¯ inga Ora land in Whanga¯ rei was key to meeting Northland’s rising demand for social housing, Murray said.
Where council’s new planning rules allow, the agency will build three-storey apartment blocks, alongside its more traditional one and two-storey homes. The buildings are planned for the suburbs of The Avenues, Kamo, Tikipunga and Kensington, where Ka¯ inga Ora acknowledges it is likely to be the first developer to build at this height.
Another Ka¯ inga Ora proposal to build a five-storey apartment block in the centre of Whanga¯ rei was mostly supported by residents. That development, planned for a council-owned site in Dent St, is still being discussed with the council, Murray said.
Also in Whanga¯ rei, the first houses in the controversial 37-home Puriri Park development in Maunu will be open for tenants in winter. The development will also include a community room with kitchen and bathroom facilities – a first for a Ka¯ inga Ora complex in Northland.
Further north, a 13-home development in Kaita¯ ia will be ready from the end of this year.
Ranging from two-bedroom duplexes to four-bedroom standalone homes, the development will also include a new wetland to control storm water.