Proposed cuts to Kāinga Ora reflect a failure to fully commit to fixing the housing crisis.
“The Government is undermining public housing and intentionally aggravating the housing crisis to benefit a privileged few at the expense of everyone else,” says the Green Party’s Housing spokesperson Tamatha Paul.
“Housing is a human right. Public housing has always been an important safety net for some of the most marginalised people in our communities. Public housing can help to insulate against the uncertainty and unaffordability of private rental housing and ensure that people don’t fall through the cracks and into homelessness and poverty.
“However, this Government would rather treat housing as a business opportunity, rather than the human right that all people rely upon. They have delayed over 300 public housing projects around the country so that house prices and rents continue to rise, and landlords continue to cash in on people’s need to survive.
“The current Government has shown little interest or ambition in building public housing. Kāinga Ora has been clear that these cuts are a result of them planning to build less housing at a time where more than 20,000 people across the country are waiting for a public home to become available.
“These cuts will do nothing to bolster our public housing stock and address Aotearoa’s severe shortage of homes. This is a significant step backwards.
“As a country we must rise to the challenge of addressing the housing crisis which has left so many New Zealanders struggling for a place to live. It requires commitment to public housing as a means to end homelessness and guarantee everyone a warm and secure place to live.
“The Government must commit to an ambitious public housing programme. We have demonstrated how it would be possible to clear the public housing waitlist by building 35,000 new healthy, affordable, public houses over the next five years.
“The Government must commit to building more homes, not just lining the pockets of landlords,” says Tamatha Paul.
