State housing and the crisis at the bottom of the housing market could yet be the biggest political story of the year. The escalating housing affordability problem - which is termed a "crisis" by the left, and a "challenge" by the right - has mostly been concerned with the impact on so-called middle New Zealand. Most of the debate has been on the cost of buying property - especially for first home buyers.
The debate has expanded to include the increasing cost of rental accommodation and unhealthy homes, and now it has landed on the problems of those who can't even afford to rent a proper home. So this week we've been talking about overcrowded flats, and people living in structures not designed for habitation: garages, shipping containers, and even cars.
The situation is even getting international attention - the Guardian newspaper has reported the experiences of The Salvation Army's Campbell Roberts, who says that it's the "worst homelessness I have seen in 25 years" - see: New Zealand housing crisis forces hundreds to live in tents and garages.
The homelessness debate of the past week was sparked by Mike Wesley-Smith's report for TV3's The Nation last weekend - see the must-watch 13-minute item: Auckland's hidden homeless.
The reporter was so moved by his investigation, that he wrote about his experience putting the story together, which is also well worth reading - see his opinion piece, Surely NZ is better than this.
Wesley-Smith says, "To witness young children aged under five living in a car for two months was bloody shocking." And although the situation of the low-income families was depressing, he also reflects that the "car community" was still a positive one, with mixed backgrounds: "Many were working full time, some had university degrees, some were Maori, some were Pasifika, some were European. If these were the people society forgot, they didn't forget each other. They cooked together, kept the surrounding park tidy and even cleaned the local toilets each morning. The local cleaning lady can't speak highly enough about them."
He also reports on the very good work being done by social workers and government agencies, but nonetheless "something is seriously wrong with the system".
RNZ has also played a significant role in fostering the debate, with both Morning Report and Checkpoint featuring substantial investigations and interviews on homelessness. John Campbell has some excellent videos and reports - see his two five-minute videos, Auckland's housing crisis worsens and WINZ emergency housing at $1330 a week.
Such coverage has moved many to take the problem seriously and reflect on the severity of the situation. Late on Tuesday night, for example, Linda Clark (@lindaclark1) tweeted on: "If you're heading to bed about now to a bed and not a car or a garage then spare a thought."
Emergency accommodation debate
The Prime Minister's appearance on RNZ's Morning Report on Monday played a significant part in keeping the focus on the plight of those urgently needing housing. Asked what homeless people should do, he replied: "My really strong advice is to go and see Work and Income... and we'll see what we can do, because I think people very often don't understand what's available to them".
This sparked responses from a number of people who had sought such help, without satisfactory outcomes - see, for example, RNZ's Work and Income advice 'passing the buck' - homeless mum and Homeless mum: 'It's pretty scary at night'.
The focus turned to the fact that Work and Income are willing to find emergency motel accommodation, but the agency then insists on the homeless paying back the cost - see Alex Ashton's Homeless borrow thousands for motels.
Although the policy is set to change, many now have huge debts to Work and Income, and an online petition has been started - currently with 3,186 signatures - to get the debts dropped - see the ActionStation petition: Minister Anne Tolley: Forgive WINZ motel emergency accommodation debt.
Blogger No Right Turn makes the case against how Work and Income are operating: "So, basically, WINZ fails to do its job of providing people in extreme need with a state house, then makes its victims pay for that failure. And at a top rate too, far more than you'd pay if you just booked a motel online. But because its not on their budget, and someone else eventually pays, WINZ has no incentive to ensure that its victims are getting value for money" - see: Forgive this odious debt.
Work and Income's procedures have been judged to be incoherent, unfair and unaccountable - and that's not the view of the agency's critics, but of the Ministry of Social Development, who told Paula Bennett this last year - see RNZ's Emergency housing sector 'unaccountable'.
The Government has announced significant new funding for emergency housing - see RNZ's Govt to spend $41.1m on emergency housing.
However, this isn't necessarily about the purchase of new beds, but funding existing ones. Russell Brown says therefore it's "basically keeping the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff from being scrapped and sold for parts" - see: Crowded houses.
Brown also points out that the level of accommodation supplement provided by Work and Income hasn't been increased for years. Similarly, see RNZ's Plea for budget to deliver on Auckland housing. In this, Budgeting and Family Support Services chief executive Darryl Evans says, "The accommodation supplement - which many of our families will apply for and qualify for - hasn't risen for a number years. And so the maximum entitlement is $200 a week, but if the rent is $500 or $600, then there's a huge shortfall."
