Housing HIGHLIGHTS INTRODUCTION RESTORING THE DREAM OF HOME OWNERSHIP. Policy Labour will:

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1 Policy 2014 Housing HIGHLIGHTS Restore the dream of home ownership by building 100,000 affordable homes over 10 years, cracking down on speculators, ensuring Councils increase the supply of residential land and housing through a National Policy Statement on affordable housing, and lowering interest rates by reforming monetary policy. Provide more security of tenure for renters and ensure every rental property is warm and dry, while building our social housing stock. Work to end homelessness by increasing emergency housing, developing an action plan, and implementing a licensing regime and minimum standards for boarding houses. INTRODUCTION Access to appropriate and affordable housing is central to achieving wellbeing and security for all New Zealanders. A stable and healthy home environment underpins the health and well-being of our families and children. Without it we will not be able to make the necessary interventions to ensure that every child is able to reach their full potential. Housing costs are the largest budget item for many low and middle income families. Housing policy is absolutely critical when considering how to raise take home incomes and combat the rising cost of living. Labour also recognises the need to act urgently to address the critical shortage of housing supply and housing affordability. There is no single way back to affordability and owning our own future in housing. But turning current trends around and starting down the right track is essential. RESTORING THE DREAM OF HOME OWNERSHIP Everyone should have the chance to own their own home but home ownership rates are the lowest they ve been in over 60 years. We ll fix the housing crisis and restore the Kiwi dream of home ownership. Families who need homes to live in should come first, not speculators and overseas buyers. The housing market is failing thousands of Kiwis. The biggest barrier to home ownership is the difficulty of getting on the first rungs of the housing ladder. One of the main reasons housing is unaffordable is the lack of new entry-level houses. In the 1960s and 1970s, when homeownership was on the rise, 30-35% of the new houses built were entry-level homes. Today, that proportion has fallen to just 5%.

2 The Crown is the only player large enough to make a real difference to the home affordability crisis. That s why Labour will take a bold hands-on approach to fix this hole in New Zealand s housing market. KiwiBuild - building affordable homes build 100,000 modern affordable homes over 10 years through our KiwiBuild programme. Labour will oversee and invest in a large-scale 10 year programme of home building focussed on entry-level houses for sale to first home buyers. We will partner with the private sector, community agencies and local government to build these houses. These will be modest entry-level homes designed to get first home buyers onto the property ladder. They will be modern, healthy and energy efficient. They will be range of sizes to accommodate the wide range of people looking for an affordable option, and will likely be on smaller land lots. Some will be stand alone and others in apartment blocks. Build programme Building 10,000 modest affordable homes a year is an ambitious but achievable target so long as it is well-planned and private-sector construction firms are given long-term certainty about the scale of the project. KiwiBuild will take us back to the higher rates of homebuilding seen in the 1950 s, 1960 s and 1970 s. We know from past experience that this is possible. From 2002 to 2004 consents increased by 10,000, so a significant ramp-up in building activity is certainly achievable. Also between 1972 and 1974, the number of residential buildings completed per year increased by 10,000, largely in response to the housing policies of Norman Kirk s Labour government. The KiwiBuild programme will scale up over three years. This takes into account the need to have all systems in place, the need for precision in sequencing the builds in order to manage the fiscal impact, and the resource implications of the Christchurch recovery. prioritise Canterbury with 10,000 Kiwibuild homes in the first four years (see Kickstarting the Canterbury Recovery below) We expect KiwiBuild to be 70 percent stand-alone houses and 30 percent apartments and terraced housing. Within Auckland however the split is likely to be more even, with the majority of properties in the more central parts of Auckland being apartments and terraced housing. Benefits of KiwiBuild The benefits of KiwiBuild will be substantial. This solution offers a bold and comprehensive answer to one of New Zealand s long-standing problems. KiwiBuild will be the largest public building programme in over 50 years. It will increase the number of affordable houses being built over time by up to 50%.

3 Based on Productivity Commission data, it is estimated that building 100,000 homes will substantially reverse the last decade s worth of increase in the number of working households who cannot afford to buy their own home. Cost to the homebuyer The price of the homes will be set at a rate sufficient to fully cover the Crown s costs, including land, construction and finance costs. They won t be sold at a loss. But nor will the government seek to charge a developer s margin. A small 1% margin on top of the Crown s cost of borrowing is sufficient to ensure the programme is self-funding over the long term, while still keeping the homes as affordable as possible. Labour will use the Crown s low cost of borrowing and the economies of scale from building in bulk to bring down the cost of building these houses. Prefab New Zealand and BRANZ s Value Case for Prefab has estimated this could save $32,000 off the cost of building a house. A further saving of $15,000 or more will be made using effective materials procurement, for a total reduction of $47,000. It is expected that these homes will sell for between $200,000 for apartments or terraced style housing outside Auckland and $460,000 for standalone dwellings in high demand areas of Auckland. The nationwide average (mean) price would be about $340,000. This is higher than estimated in November 2012 when the KiwiBuild policy was first announced, but since that time lower-quartile house prices have increased by $120,000. The following table shows the projected range of purchase prices for different types of KiwiBuild homes in the first year of the programme. Stand-alone dwellings Apartments and terraced housing Auckland $380,000 - $460,000 $280,000 - $360,000 Outside of Auckland $250,000-$400,000 $200,000 - $300,000 A useful benchmark for comparison is the Roost Home Loan Affordability Report measure for first home buyers. This is based on a mortgage (i.e. house price less estimated deposit) not exceeding 40 percent of the median take-home pay for a household in the age range in Auckland. Based on this approach, we estimate that the affordability threshold for Auckland is approximately $460,000. On this basis KiwiBuild stand-alone dwellings would be within the affordability range, and flats and apartments well within the range. Cost to the Crown KiwiBuild houses will be sold as they are built, so over the full course of the programme there will be no cost to the Crown. Once the build is underway the programme becomes selfsustaining within the first term as the sale of one batch of houses finances the development of the next. To kick-start the programme, there will be a one-off $1.5 billion investment. This represents a fraction of the approximately $50 billion National has borrowed over six years. Because this is capital investment, it will not affect our surplus.

4 Eligibility Eligibility to buy a KiwiBuild home will be kept as simple as possible to cut down on administration costs. As with the current KiwiSaver homeownership features, the houses will be restricted to first home buyers. Buyers will need to live in the house for a period of time to be determined based on advice from officials. There will be a penalty applied if the house is sold within in this time frame. If the property was sold prospective buyers will also have to show they saved their deposit themselves (including through KiwiSaver). Where there is more demand in a locality than there are homes available, eligible candidates will go into a draw and the buyer will be selected by ballot. No household type will receive preference over any other household type. Nor will there be any income restrictions. On the whole, people will self-select, with those who can afford to move up the property ladder excluding themselves. Affordable mortgages Monetary Policy Reform Those moving into home ownership should have the security of knowing that the largest mortgage payment they will ever have to make will be their first. Home ownership used to bring certainty to household budgets, and an incentive for people to move from renting to home ownership, but it is now one of the most unpredictable elements of a household budget. Interest rates are now forecast to rise above 8% and are significantly higher than those in comparable countries. If interest rates could be reduced and stabilised a large part of the affordability problem would be addressed. Addressing housing affordability sustainably will require a structural change in the way our economy operates. High mortgage interest rates are driven by our current account deficit and our need to borrow significantly offshore due to a lack of investment capital available in New Zealand. Labour's monetary policy reforms are designed to address these issues and are therefore pivotal in getting us on the path back to housing affordability. Through monetary policy reform New Zealand will have more jobs, more export earnings, lower interest rates, less international debt and less foreign ownership of our land and companies. maintain the Reserve Bank s independence and its inflation target broaden the objective of the Reserve Bank to include the external balance and allow it to use current tools to tackle our overvalued dollar give the Bank a new tool to adjust universal KiwiSaver savings rates as an alternative to raising interest rates. This would mean Kiwis would pay money to their retirement savings instead of higher mortgage payments to overseas banks. For more information, see Labour s Monetary policy.

5 Long-term mortgage products New Zealand offers no long-term mortgage products beyond 5 years. This contrasts with many other countries where fixed rates of 4-6.5% for periods of years are common. Such mortgage products provide certainty for households while the reduced rates improve ongoing affordability. investigate ways of introducing long-term fixed interest mortgage products into the New Zealand market. Tackling speculation A recent OECD report found in 2013 New Zealand had the fastest growing house prices in the developed world, the second highest price relative to incomes, and the highest relative to rents. This indicates that New Zealand has not only a problem with shortage of supply in housing but also an issue of speculation. Capital Gains Tax One way to reduce speculation in the housing market is to push people currently speculating on the expected capital gain from rental properties into the productive parts of the economy instead. The best way to achieve this is through a Capital Gains Tax. introduce a 15% Capital Gains Tax, excluding the family home, to bring New Zealand in line with the rest of the OECD The capital gains tax will never apply to the family home. It will apply only to the gains made on the sale of shares, investment properties, companies etc., and only to gains made after the law is passed. Fewer than 10% of New Zealanders in any one year will be affected by this tax. Overseas Property Speculators Currently there are no restrictions on non-residents buying houses in New Zealand. Our lack of restrictions, stamp duty and capital gains tax make us an attractive target for speculators. Real estate agencies are actively marketing Kiwi homes to overseas speculators. This adds nothing to our economy and forces New Zealanders to compete against offshore investors who are able to borrow at lower interest rates than in New Zealand. Figures from IRD released under the Official Information Act show that over 25,000 overseas speculators own New Zealand rental properties and this doesn t include those who leave properties vacant. Given many speculators own multiple properties the number of overseasowned rental properties is likely to be much higher. Labour will amend the Overseas Investment Act 2005 to close the loophole that makes New Zealand an easy target for overseas speculators.

6 apply new restrictions on the purchase of residential property by non-residents, so that they will only be granted permission to purchase a residential property if they intend to live here permanently or that purchase adds to our existing housing stock, e.g. building a new house For further information, see Labour s Overseas Purchases policy. National Policy Statement on Affordable Housing Labour believes there is a need for central government to partner with regional and local government to plan for current and future housing needs and ensure a consistent focus and strategy across New Zealand. Central, regional and local government all have critical roles in housing policy. The decisions, policies and rules at each level have important consequences for housing in New Zealand. Local government grants consents and makes land zoning and infrastructure decisions; regional government is part of consultation processes that can affect land supply; and central government provides funding and has control of policy levers in key areas such as taxation. Currently there is no national plan that coordinates these roles and functions. This means that New Zealand has not planned well for changing housing needs. Under Labour, affordable and healthy housing will be a top priority. We will use powers under the Resource Management Act to make affordable and healthy housing an issue of national significance. 1 There is no national policy statement giving direction to Councils to give priority to affordable housing when making planning decisions, both in respect of plan rules and consent decisions. require the Minister of Housing to prepare, monitor and report against the implementation of a national policy statement (NPS) for affordable housing. This national policy statement will help achieve progress across all regions and provide a framework for affordable home ownership, secure and healthy rental housing, and planning for current and future housing needs. It will encourage and assist land and building developers towards developments that meet the needs of society. The most direct and immediate impact of a national policy statement will be on planning decisions. It will state as an objective the provision of adequate levels of affordable housing and the availability of land to be used for that purpose. 1 National policy statements are an instrument under the Resource Management Act 1991 to enable central government to prescribe objectives and policies on resource management matters of national significance. These statements guide subsequent decision-making under the Resource Management Act 1991 at the regional and district levels by influencing plans and consent decisions. National policy statements have already been issued on coastal matters, electricity transmission, renewable electricity generation, and freshwater management.

7 In practice the national policy statement will ensure Councils are more likely to approve projects involving affordable housing in existing suburbs and greenfield developments. It will also assist in the availability of sufficient quantities of affordable land. Of course, not all proposals will or should be consented, but overall more will be. The NPS will also mean that developments which provide affordable housing will be easier to consent than developments which do not. The national policy statement will encourage more affordable cost options in all areas, to avoid them only being consented in lower value suburbs (although overall most are likely to be in lower land cost areas). The government and local councils can help in ensuring a good mix through developments on suitable land in central or local government ownership. By contrast, the current government s proposed weakening of the Resource Management Act and lowering of industry standards won t do anything to help Kiwis into homes. Labour will uphold the basic principles on which the Act was founded, while improving how it works in practice. convene a panel of resource management, process and public participation experts to evaluate the collective outcome of amendments to the RMA since it was passed in 1991, and to advise on how to ensure the Act remains fit for purpose. Reducing construction costs The cost of building a home has risen significantly in recent years while New Zealand s building industry has fragmented. The Government s action on building costs and development contributions has been weak, piecemeal and poorly thought through, dealing with only a small fraction of the costs. More significant change to the cost of building is needed. investigate further options to reduce the cost of building supplies and development contributions. Labour s KiwiBuild policy will provide further opportunity to reduce construction costs by using modern prefabrication methods and mass construction of affordable housing. Prefab New Zealand and BRANZ s Value Case for Prefab has estimated this, along with effective materials procurement, could save $47,000 off the cost of building a house. Improved urban planning Cities are where many of us spend most of our lives. At best, they can be exciting, accessible places, with high amenity, quality public spaces, and affordable, quality living environments. At worst, they are the places where shonky developers build nasty apartments and poorer neighbourhoods become ghettoes where landlords alone prosper: while public spaces and amenities are run down, ugly, deserted, and ordinary people are squeezed out of home ownership and quality rental accommodation. Labour will champion high quality urban design.

8 give local government the tools to drive better design of our built environment, not only downtown but in every suburb and neighbourhood find new ways to work together with housing sector actors, and leadership to improve urban planning and regulating. Labour will provide that leadership, listening to stakeholders, making their Kiwi dream more possible. We remain committed to the Tamaki Transformation programme and Housing New Zealand's community renewal programmes. Kick-starting the Canterbury Recovery Nearly four years after the first earthquake, progress on rebuilding Canterbury s housing stock is still painfully slow. Labour will do whatever it takes to get this recovery moving for the people of Canterbury. Our plan will cover the key areas we believe are crucial to a faster and stronger recovery. This will include relieving the housing crisis that is plaguing this city and speeding up insurance settlement. build 10,000 affordable Kiwibuild homes in Canterbury over four years, providing the first 3,000 of these homes as affordable rentals until the housing crisis is fixed build 100 temporary homes immediately to boost the stock of temporary emergency housing in the first three months, and an additional 300 in the first six months build affordable medium density housing to revitalise the city centre, as well as suburban and town centres. This will create vibrant communities with high quality urban design, green spaces and decent infrastructure increase the accommodation supplement for Christchurch by up to $50 a week until the housing crisis is fixed, to correct the shortfall. For further information, see Labour s Canterbury policy. SECURITY FOR THOSE WHO RENT A stable healthy home is crucial for the wellbeing of all children, whether a family rents or owns their own home. However the New Zealand rental property market is not set up to deliver long term rental arrangements, despite such arrangements often benefitting both tenant and landlord. Labour will work with landlord and tenant representative groups to investigate options for increasing security of tenure in the private sector. The recently updated residential tenancy legislation which was developed under the last Labour Government appears to be working well, and Labour will continue to monitor its progress. However we disagree with some elements of the new legislation which have disadvantaged tenants, and will amend the Act accordingly. These include the charging of letting fees to tenants, representation for tenants in the tenancy tribunal, and the issue of joint and several liability.

9 The accommodation supplement is a large housing cost to Government that has not improved affordability. Labour will review the effectiveness of this subsidy, and its synergy with the income-related rent subsidy. work with landlord and tenant representative groups to investigate options for providing greater security of tenure for those who rent, as part of a review of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act to better balance the rights of tenants and landlords review the Accommodation Supplement and its effectiveness in improving affordability and housing outcomes. Healthy Homes Guarantee A 2010 survey by BRANZ found that only 22 per cent of rental properties were in good condition and 44 per cent were in poor condition. The Productivity Commission has estimated that one third of New Zealanders in rental accommodation feel their homes are damp or cold. The Children s Commissioner s Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty also warns that many rental properties have inadequate or non-existent insulation, and inefficient and ineffective heating. There is broad consensus that ensuring homes are warm and dry is the most urgent priority for New Zealand s housing stock. Independent research commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Development has shown that up to five dollars worth of benefits arise from every dollar spent on insulating homes. Research by the Public Health Association estimates that child poverty is costing the country up to $8.8 billion a year. Between $3-$4.5 billion of that is health related costs. Some of these costs could be avoidable if more progress was made in upgrading our rental housing stock. Māori, Pacific Islanders and lower socio-economic groups are less likely to own their own homes and more likely to suffer from the effects of poor quality housing. While the Home Insulation Scheme started under Labour has been very successful, it has had a limited impact on the quality of rental houses. EECA estimates up to two-thirds of uninsulated homes are rentals, yet only 14% of homes insulated under the Government s insulation programme are rentals. There have been taxpayer subsidised retrofitting schemes for a number of years. It is now time to require all rental properties to be brought up to a minimum standard through a regulatory rule, rather than through future taxpayer subsidy. introduce a Healthy Homes Guarantee so that every rental home in New Zealand is a healthy home that meets minimum standards of insulation and efficient heating. All rental housing (state, social and private sector) will be required to meet minimum health and safety standards in regard to insulation and effective non-polluting heating. Landlords will need to make a declaration, or guarantee as part of any new tenancy agreement that their property complies with the standards.

10 Under the Residential Tenancies Act, landlords already have obligations in respect of cleanliness, maintenance, and building or health and safety requirements, when they rent out a property. But there is little guidance about the specific standards they must meet, particularly to ensure adequately warm and dry accommodation for New Zealanders who rent. Labour will set out specific requirements for all rental properties to have adequate insulation and an efficient heating device. These requirements will be based upon the warmth and dryness component of the Healthy Housing Index. This index was developed during by the Housing and Health Research Programme of the University of Otago and BRANZ Inc., with funding support from the Health Research Council and ACC, amongst others. More information about the Healthy House Index can be found at The acceptable levels of insulation and choices as to heating will be set by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority and will be based on similar criteria used in projects they have designed and implemented. How the Healthy Homes Guarantee will work The Residential Tenancies Act 1986 will be amended to require all rental properties meet the minimum standard of insulation and efficient heating. The Tenancy Tribunal will have jurisdiction to enforce this standard. This amendment will give landlords, tenants and the Tribunal much clearer and more precise information about what is reasonable to expect, both prior to a property being let and in the event of a dispute. Tenancy agreements will be required to include a declaration from the landlord that the property complies with a minimum standard of insulation and efficient heating. This will be described as a Healthy Homes Guarantee. This requirement will apply to all new tenancies from the time that the minimum standard is set. Since the average duration of a tenancy is less than 15 months, most rental property agreements will end up containing a Healthy Homes Guarantee by the natural process of tenant turnover. By the end of five years, all remaining properties where the tenancy agreement pre-dates the standard will be required to meet the minimum standards. Supporting social housing to support families Housing is one area where Labour knows we need to intervene to guarantee health and secure outcomes. Labour remains committed to the policy of income related rents for state house tenants. reaffirm Housing New Zealand's role as a social housing provider providing security and support for those most in need remain committed to income-related rents for state house tenants. Housing New Zealand will provide assistance for tenants with high and complex needs, ensuring that they are connected with the necessary support to help them sustain their tenancies.

11 continue to invest in the acquisition and maintenance of state houses. We need to invest in housing. The last Labour Government spent nine years repairing the damage caused by a National Government that oversaw a fire-sale of nearly 13,000 state houses, carried out no modernisation whatsoever, and introduced market rents plunging tens of thousands of families into poverty overnight. Despite the gains made by the last Labour Government, we are still playing catch-up. Labour is committed to increasing and upgrading Housing New Zealand's state housing stock. review the Crown s capital allocation in order to prioritise funding for building social and affordable houses, within the existing funding envelope cease the selling down of the state housing stock in order to keep up the stock of state housing and to enable the quality integrated renewal of state housing communities focus on new builds for any state house acquisitions, rather than purchasing existing properties, to increase the overall housing stock demonstrate leadership in building Lifetime Design homes by ensuring that, where possible, new state houses are built in accordance with the disability sector approved Lifemark standard for accessible, adaptable lifetime design build new state housing in mixed-income communities, and strive to ensure there is a forward plan to provide state housing of the type that is needed, where it is needed. The Housing New Zealand waiting list remains under pressure. Yet the government's approach has been to make it harder for applicants to get on the waiting list, leaving homes sitting empty, kicking state house tenants out of their homes including the elderly and disabled, while cutting down the state housing stock. National has been using Housing New Zealand as a cash cow taking out a net $216 million since it took office and planning to take out another $252 million over the next three years. Housing New Zealand needs to be used as a vehicle to support families, not undermine them. restore the role of tenancy managers who can work directly with tenants and get the best housing outcomes abolish the bureaucratic 'one size fits all' policy of reviewable tenancies, and instead allow tenancy managers to work on a case by case basis with tenants to move them on if their situation improves not apply reviewable tenancies to the elderly, the disabled, or families with school age children or younger ensure that every client who comes into Housing New Zealand has a needs assessment before being offered the 'options and advice' service. Category C and D clients will not be denied access to the state house waiting list but will continue to be offered advice on alternative accommodation options.

12 ensure there is a tenants advocate representing their interests on the board of Housing New Zealand empower Housing New Zealand to be more proactive at a regional level, both in asset and tenancy management, allowing them to operate in a way which more efficiently and effectively meets the specific needs of their local community ensure that where Housing New Zealand tenants are displaced because of urban renewal projects, or major rebuilds such as in Christchurch, that they are given the option of moving back to their communities when they are rebuilt. Building community housing sector capability and partnership Re-establishing a solid base of state housing was an important achievement of the Fifth Labour Government. From that base, we can consider how to move on, into solutions which will impact further on the enormous need for social housing. Housing need has changed dramatically over the decades. While Housing New Zealand continues to house our lowest income families, housing need has begun to spread well into the middle classes with home ownership and affordable private rentals out of reach for many families who now need assistance. One area we see potential in is a greater involvement for the 'third' or community sector. Labour believes the community housing sector has a pivotal role to play in the provision of social and affordable housing in New Zealand. We see this role as complementing continued Government investment in social housing, not replacing it. We see particular potential for the sector in the area of affordable home ownership for first time buyers and mixed tenure developments. The Government s social housing reforms have seen income related rents extended to community housing organisations. However it refused to provide any sizable capital funding to allow an expansion of social housing stock to meet that need leaving stock transfers from Housing New Zealand as the only option. Labour will work with the community housing sector to develop it in ways that will see it complementing an increase in HNZC social housing stock through access to capital or land work with third sector organisations who can assist tenants to sustain tenancies in both the public and private sector. Housing New Zealand will be directed to develop relationships with NGOs that can better support tenants with special needs eg disabled, elderly, mental health clients, homeless, youth etc. maintain the income related rent subsidy for not for profit community housing organisations which provide social housing and, as finances allow, consider its expansion to local councils who provide social housing.

13 HOUSING AND MĀORI DEVELOPMENT Particular housing initiatives are also needed for Māori, developed in close consultation with iwi and key stakeholders, so that Māori can inform central and local government of their own housing needs and aspirations. establish a Māori Housing Unit to ensure housing policies are tailored to meet the specific needs and aspirations of Māori partner with iwi in the provision of affordable and social housing remove land tenure impediments to improve access to funding for papakainga developments investigate the extent of substandard rural Māori housing in Northland, the East Coast and the Bay of Plenty and develop programmes to upgrade homes where needed. QUALITY LIVING IN THE COMMUNITY FOR DISABLED PEOPLE Labour is determined to support quality living in the community for disabled people. This includes increasing opportunities to access comfortable and accessible housing. New Zealand spends a lot of taxpayer funds on housing modifications, whereas building more accessible homes in the beginning would ensure that they would be accessible to all, with little, if any, additional cost and with significantly reduced costs in comparison to modifying already built houses. A long term focus on increased building accessibility will also meet the needs of an aging population. demonstrate leadership in building Lifetime Design homes by ensuring that, where possible, new state houses are built in accordance with the disability sector approved Lifemark standard for accessible, adaptable lifetime design. encourage the design of accessible homes to ensure that a higher proportion of the housing stock is suitable to meet the needs of all people. ensure that Housing New Zealand, as part of its acquisition and maintenance programme, invests in the retrofitting of state houses so that they are accessible not apply Housing New Zealand reviewable tenancies to disabled people review New Zealand Standard 4121:2001: Design for Access and Mobility: Buildings and Associated Facilities to ensure it is applicable to all public land transport premises and more fully covers people with all types of impairment ensure that local authorities are not able to opt out of their responsibilities to comply with Building Standard 4121 so that people with physical impairments have better access to buildings and other public facilities ensure that all local authorities consult with and are advised by disabled people at all stages of planning of urban design and that the needs of disabled people are key considerations in urban design.

14 ENDING HOMELESSNESS Access to appropriate and affordable housing is central to achieving wellbeing and security for all New Zealanders. A stable and healthy home environment underpins the health and well-being of our families and children. Without it we will not be able to make the necessary interventions to ensure that every child is able to reach their full potential. Homelessness in New Zealand ranges from the visible homeless who sleep rough to those who couch surf or are living in temporary or insecure accommodation such as boarding houses or hostels, and people in unfit or overcrowded housing. If someone is living in these circumstances, and has no other options available to them, they are considered homeless. Homelessness is not a lifestyle choice. It is a complex problem involving significant social detachment. It is likely to cost taxpayers millions of dollars a year. A case study estimated that a single homeless man cost taxpayers a conservative $200,000 a year in emergency department visits alone. Therefore there is an economic imperative, as well as a moral imperative, to address homelessness. Homelessness remains largely misunderstood. The stereotype is that it is a choice, and that mental illness and drug or alcohol addiction are the main causes. Yet international evidence shows that one of the most common pathways into homelessness is as a young person, and that unless early intervention is provided, they risk remaining homeless their entire lives. Homelessness is traditionally seen as being a problem for single men. However homelessness affects women, young people, victims of domestic violence, mental health consumers, people released from prison and families experiencing financial crisis. Māori are over-represented among the homeless. Despite this growing problem the Government has largely ignored the issue. There is no single agency responsible for dealing with homelessness policy and this shows in the disjointed and inadequate response so far. The current restructuring at Housing New Zealand which has seen the corporation withdraw from supporting a tenant s wider social needs is only exacerbating the problem and resulting in more evictions and more homelessness. Labour s Plan Too many New Zealanders are living on the streets, in cars, and in campervans. Labour will take decisive action to end homelessness because it is the right thing to do. The support provided to those most in housing need must be increased and better targeted. Labour will undertake a ministerial inquiry to determine the solutions to best end homelessness and develop a New Zealand Homelessness Strategy from that to end homelessness. To support this strategy we will ensure one single agency has responsibility to leading policy to deal with homelessness, and emergency and transitional accommodation as well as reaffirming Housing New Zealand s role as a social housing provider to deal with the broader social needs to their tenant. Labour will develop a consistent national programme of emergency and accommodation services and will provide additional central resourcing to the sector to do this. We will increase the stock of temporary and emergency housing in Canterbury by 400 to assist with the specific problems faced there. To resolve issues around boarding houses we will set up a licensing regime, minimum standards, and a compliance system.

15 These commitments sit along Labour s broader commitments to tackle issues in the housing market and restore the dream of home ownership by building 100,000 starter homes through KiwiBuild, cracking down on speculators through a Capital Gains Tax excluding the family home and restrictions on non-resident house buyers, monetary policy reforms for lower interest rates, and a National Policy Statement on affordable housing to lower building costs. Emergency Accommodation Emergency accommodation levels throughout New Zealand are sporadic and can fall well short of demand in some areas with services finding themselves at maximum capacity. Many providers have been struggling to provide services and this leaves people waiting living in cars and in garages. A consistent national programme of emergency accommodation services must be developed. National has budgeted $46.8 million to enable reviewable tenancies for all tenants. This includes the elderly, disabled, and those with school aged children being forced out of their home which has significant impacts on their stability. Labour will reprioritise funding from reviewable tenancies by excluding these three groups and redirect that funding towards emergency housing provision. This will enable an additional $5m to be directed towards emergency housing in our first term whilst our homelessness strategy is developed. This will help ensure there is a range of housing with social worker support available throughout the country for people with short term housing needs with average stays between 3 weeks and 6 months as people are transitioned to housing independence. Social worker support will help to ensure that these people can get their lives back on track and move into longer term sustainable housing. We estimate this will enable provide sufficient accommodation to house an additional 1,000 individuals and families per year. In Canterbury there are specific problems where nearly four years after the first earthquake progress on rebuilding Canterbury s housing stock is still painfully slow. Failure to get the residential rebuild going fast enough has allowed a severe and prolonged shortage of affordable housing to develop. It is holding back the speed of the recovery. In Canterbury we will significantly increase the stock of temporary and emergency housing available to tackle this by building new houses. develop a consistent national programme of emergency accommodation services redirect $5 million per year in our first term to a contestable fund for emergency housing so organisations like Monte Cecilia Housing Trust and the Salvation Army can manage the housing, and provide support and services to help people get their lives back on track and then into more sustainable long term housing investigate the use of vacant or underutilised Housing New Zealand homes to provide emergency accommodation services build 100 temporary homes immediately in Canterbury to boost the stock of temporary emergency housing in the first three months, and an additional 300 in the first six months

16 New Zealand Homelessness Strategy There is no single agency responsible for dealing with homelessness policy which has resulted in disjointed and inadequate services to prevent homelessness in New Zealand. While individual providers do excellent work to tackle the problem there is insufficient coordination and coverage of services. Without a comprehensive overall strategy to deal with homelessness the services provided will continue to be sporadic leaving people to fall through the gaps. As the largest social housing provider in New Zealand Housing New Zealand also needs to play a broader role in addressing the wider social needs to tenants with high and complex needs to prevent them falling into the trap of homelessness. initiate a Ministerial inquiry to ascertain the extent and nature of homelessness in New Zealand. Terms of reference for the inquiry will be developed in consultation with key stakeholders including iwi, local government and NGOs working to prevent and end homelessness. The outcome of this inquiry will form the basis of an interdepartmental New Zealand Homelessness Strategy with a focus on prevention and early intervention ensure that one single agency has responsibility for leading policy to deal with homelessness and emergency and transitional accommodation reaffirm Housing New Zealand's role as a social housing provider. Tenancy managers will once again be empowered to assist with their tenant's broader social needs and connect them with the appropriate assistance from government or community organisations which support tenants with high and complex needs to sustain tenancies. work with third sector organisations who can assist tenants to sustain tenancies in both the public and private sector. Housing New Zealand will be directed to develop relationships with NGOs that can better support tenants with special needs e.g. disabled, elderly, mental health clients, homeless, youth etc. Boarding housing and hostels A Select Committee inquiry into boarding houses this year reported back showing the significant problems in the boarding house system in New Zealand. Unfortunately the Government has refused to take the obvious step of setting up a licensing regime that would see rogue operators denied a license to operate. The current laws and regulations on boarding houses are insufficient. The laws are outdated, there is no proper set of minimum standards, and no agency clearly responsible for enforcement. This allows landlords to rent out accommodation unfit to live in which only adds to the insecurity and problems of vulnerable tenants. New Zealand s most vulnerable people should not be allowed to live in slum-like conditions. set up a licensing system for boarding houses and hostels, legislate a minimum standards, and a compliance system to ensure boarding houses provide safe and decent accommodation.