More than 203 social houses built in Northland by the present Government is a huge deal, says Whangārei MP Emily Henderson, centre.
More than 203 social houses built in Northland by the present Government is a huge deal, says Whangārei MP Emily Henderson, centre.
Opinion
Kiwi families prove the power of opportunity from state housing.
The opening of the Puriri Park Kāinga Ora development recently is a joy and, equally, a relief. Every week my office sees people, from young families to seniors, unable to find affordable accommodation, so I know every house is desperately needed.
We have a huge shortage of affordable homes, so social housing is necessary to plug the gap. With only six social houses gained here during National’s nine-year tenure, the 203 homes we have added are a huge deal – and finishing other Kainga Ora builds, like another I visited recently, with Habitat for Humanity on Hospital Rd, is a priority.
Yes, it can be challenging to discover more houses are going into your street, sharing “your” parks and schools, and yes, some are concerned about reports of poor behaviour by some Kāinga Ora tenants. On the other hand, refusing to build social housing won’t make the need for it go away.
The people in need here are overwhelmingly long-established locals, and can’t easily move on, even if there were more accommodations elsewhere: Whangārei is their home, as much as it is the home of those of us lucky enough to already be on the property ladder.
Further, while bad neighbours do make life very difficult, and Kāinga Ora has some difficult clients, unlike a private landlord, Kāinga Ora gets heavily involved in managing them with help from other government agencies. Most of all, they are a small minority of the ordinary Kiwis who are the vast majority of its tenants.
Labour MPs Emily Henderson and Kelvin Davis at the opening of the Puriri Park Rd housing development.
I accept we aren’t used to Government building housing anymore. Not since the 1970s has there been anything like this. However, even on a cold-blooded economic analysis, there are huge financial benefits to society when other people’s children and elders are also in warm, dry, stable housing. We reduce numbers needing hospitalisation and costly treatment for the diseases of cold and damp, while housing stability - and better health - increases school attendance, creating a better-educated younger generation able to move into further training and work.
Some anxiety over the build programme may relate to it coinciding with debate over what we build. Once it was all about the quarter acre section: Now we’re looking away from increasing urban sprawl to options from multi-level homes to terraced houses, both to preserve agricultural land and to create cities where people can walk and cycle, reducing pollution.
Having lived with four kids in a small flat and shared garden similar to those Kāinga Ora is now building while studying in the UK,Thomas and I still count it as the most family-friendly environment we’ve experienced, far more neighbourly and supportive than the quarter acre we’d come from. It was a great way to live.
I recognise that a small minority of us feel they should have a veto over social housing in “their” area, but the majority have a more egalitarian vision for our community: At the Puriri Park open day, every local I met welcomed the newcomers warmly.
Many recognised that you don’t have to look far in most Kiwi families to find someone who got their start in state housing, mine and Sir John Key included. “A fair go” is a fair summation of basic Kiwi values. It is the spirit of the Whangārei I know, and it is the spirit in which I welcome new public housing, so that more Kiwi families have that chance at a better life.
