How was National able to take down construction so quickly?
Industry experts say Chris Bishop and his party are to blame, but Bishop denies it, saying construction industry leaders are just “wrong”
state housing
Homelessness up by 58% in Auckland
$250mn in emergency housing “savings” a year under National, while government increases corrections budget to ~$2b a year, and will surpass NZ’s ”moral and fiscal prison failure prison rate” by 2026
Kieran McAnulty is underrated: How Chris Bishop Got Away with Blowing Up Kāinga Ora & State Housing Momentum
Kieran McAnulty’s points are fair and important – so why is media ignoring most of them? Also – Labour delivered 14,000 homes in government – so why is Chris Bishop blowing that trajectory up?
Why is Mark Richardson such a Nimby and …?
Being a nimby is the least of Mark Richardson’s problems. His disguised hate speech is harmful to his victims and anyone else in need of help who are left feeling the shame imposed upon them by such careless dialogue.
Spare a thought for the homeless tonight
Not just because it’s winter, and the weather is lousy, but also because of this…
Motels are not state houses
It’s almost as if deliberately running down state housing stock doesn’t make the need for homes magically go away – who could possibly have predicted that?
The Lighthouse
The lighthouse is a piece of public art recently erected in downtown Auckland. It is to celebrate the institution of the State House and has been paid for by real estate barons.
Housing? A National mess
3 stories from Checkpoint yesterday that add up to a picture of National’s response to housing: waste on unacceptable temporary housing; empty state houses where they’re needed most; and vilify anyone who dares complain.
Press editorial on failed state house sell-off
It’s more than a “dreary lack of ambition”, it’s a deliberate plan to underfund / rundown the stock to “justify” selling off, so that the Nats can indeed “wash their hands” of their obligations.
Sale of Key’s old house a powerful symbol
English admits that the government has done a poor job of maintaining state houses, and uses it as an excuse for privatisation – its by design. The attempted sale in Christchurch, incuding Key’s childhood home, is a powerful symbol of the way this government likes pulling up the ladder that they used behind them.
Meth Fries Housing NZ’s Brains
Housing NZ has admitted that it is evicting tenants when only tiny trace amounts of meth are found on the property. It further admits that the testing regime is not fit for purpose. But, hey, they have the power to make people homeless and they’re not going to let fairness or common sense get in the way of their moral panic.
When did the War on Drugs become the War on the Poor?
2800 state houses “transferred”
Yesterday 2800 state houses in Auckland were “transferred” to a new authority, which plans to “reduce the number of people the State is supporting”.
So much for the competitive market
I love how right-wing ideology is just some thing that can be switched on and off at will. Case in point, ownership of state houses…
NRT: Disgraceful
I/S at No Right Turn: “Since coming to power in 2008, the National government has sold more than a thousand state houses and tightened access to the remainder considerably. The net result? People not getting the assistance they need…”
Costly government
This is the true irony of National governments. Their entire platform is one of “fiscal responsibility” and “good economic management” yet time and time again they spend money the way I did when I was a teenager: false economies and short-term wish fulfilment.
Questions on Key’s housing sell-off
Key’s state house asset sale policy doesn’t make sense at any level, and the questions are piling up…
Oppose the housing sell off!
A last-minute, urgent appeal from Phil Twyford – oppose the sell off of state houses – today!
NRT: Wealth transfer
John Key’s latest answer to the housing crisis: bigger subsidies for private landlords! Subsidies to private landlords simply result in rent increases. It doesn’t increase the housing supply. But ole JK just likes screwing over young first home buyers..
No point in state houses
There’s no point in state houses. Not according to the Nats anyway. Unbelievable.
Cause of poverty and inequality found!
Good news citizens! The National government has revealed unto us today the cause of poverty and inequality.
NRT: A surprise policy
Remember National’s social housing policy? The one they campaigned on? The one that talked about how much money they were spending and was all about upgrading and investing in state houses? Somehow, post-election, its transmogrified into selling off a third of the state housing stock. John Key lying to voters as usual eh?
Polity: News from National Comms!
Rob Salmond at Polity on what has landed in his mail box paid for by your GST and also close to the wrong side the permissible limits of Parliamentary Services funds. Or perhaps this is something for “NZ Taxpayers Union” to moan about wasting taxpayers money with. They won’t of course because they seem to be good little front organisation for Act and Jordan Williams appears to have about as much independence as their beloved slaves. But if you received one, then a complaint seems in order.
State housing: bursting the “market” bubble
The inhumane (un)affordability of housing in NZ, especially in the cities of Christchurch & Auckland, is beyond crisis point. The answer is not letting the “market” (aka the wealthy and powerful) decide. As Utah shows the solution is more state housing.
Governing for their rich mates (again)
Rob Stock at the Sunday Star Times reports that National plans to dump state housing on NGOs and flog land to developers.
National are governing for their rich mates again.
Harawira’s arrest
On any other morning Hone Harawira’s arrest would be the big political news story of the day.
State house evictions
In 2005 Labour wrote to State House tenants with a warning “Don’t let National sell your house.” We were criticised for scaring people. Now Tamaki residents have got the real letters. And the boot. Same old National.
Heatley to resign (again) over eviction debacle?
National promised to get tough ‘undeserving’ state house tenants. (always someone to get tough on when maintaining the privileges of the elite) The first targets were 3 women and their kids, judged guilty by association with their partners who were charged with burglary (the charges were dropped). 2 years and $1m wasted and the government has given up.
Gutting the state housing system
No Right Turn on the Nats’ cynical plans. “And its here that National’s true goal becomes apparent: they’re planning to effectively gut the state housing system…”
Kiwi dream RIP
Owning your own home was the foundation of the “Kiwi dream”. Now it seems that we’ve let that dream slip further out of reach than almost anywhere in the world. Houses in Auckland are less affordable than in New York. Demand in the rental market is far outstripping supply. What should the government be doing?
House prices show double-dip
House prices are a good indication of how the economy is going. They rose rapidly in the 2000s, stalled in 2007, plummeted in 2008, and made a slight recovery in 2009. Now they’re heading down again. The median house price is over 16% below the peak in late 2007 and I reckon they’ve got a long down way to go yet.
Housing occupation not a stunt
Matt McCarten and his team took over a vacant state house in Mana to install a young couple who were previously living in a garage. Four supporters were soon arrested. The media are calling this action a “stunt”. To do so is to diminish the significance of the issue to which it was drawing attention. Call it a protest. People are living in squalor while state houses sit empty. Why?
The State Housing review
It’s not surprising that the Housing Shareholders Advisory Group came to the conclusions it did. Despite its name, the group included no state house tenants. It was a group packed with private social housing providers, hand-picked to deliver the conclusion that these groups should be given control of state houses.
A new state housing agenda
The country is short about 10,000 houses and many of the houses we do have (mostly privately owned rentals) are unhealthy. The housing shortage was a driver of the last housing boom and is still keeping house prices excessively high, while poor quality housing means higher health costs, more sick days, and kids that are sick so often it disrupts their education. It would be sensible on every level to build the extra houses we need, and the government should take the lead role.
Don’t let State Houses become private slums
The other day on Red Alert, Chris Hipkins related an interesting story about how National’s last round of State House sales went awry: […]
Sell state houses? Not like this
National has announced that it will begin offering to sell 3,800 state houses to tenants living in them on market rents. I don’t […]
Welfare for whom?
Remember the iconic photos of the first Labour Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage and his cabinet celebrating the introduction of State Housing by […]