Govt: No post-quake 'ghettos'

Photo / Charles Tocker

Housing Minister Phil Heatley says he does not want temporary housing ghettos to spring up in quake-stricken Christchurch.

The Government is looking at a number of temporary accommodation arrangements for residents unable to live in their homes, including campervans, holiday homes, and temporary units.

Mr Heatley said today it was important to guard against creating ghettos.

"That's why we're making it very clear that our expectation is that people will find their own way in terms of temporary accommodation - that we'll simply step into the breach where people are unable to do that," he told Radio New Zealand.

"We're conscious of the whole issue of not creating ghettos. We also don't want to lock up land in temporary housing where more permanent housing will be suited."

Mr Heatley said an announcement on short-term housing options, which would house people from now to six months, would be due in the next few weeks.

"In terms of the longer-term housing plan six months out for several years, obviously some key decisions need to be made. We need to talk to landowners, we need to get a better grasp of the demand," he said.

The Government wanted to erect independent units with dedicated cooking and laundering facilities that would be "as self-contained as possible".

Mr Heatley said they had ruled out tents.

"People will be needing a place to live in longer term, six months to perhaps several years, so we have to devise a degree of housing which is comfortable but is not permanent."

It was not yet known how many people would need temporary accommodation, but it would be "a very significant number" in the thousands.

"What we have to do is monitor it week by week... we just want to remain ahead of that demand."

Many people would sort out accommodation themselves.

Mr Heatley said immediate accommodation needs had been met, with 1000 people needing housing compared with almost 4000 offers of accommodation from Canterbury and elsewhere.

People seeking temporary accommodation from the Government would have to pay rent, but many would be eligible for assistance.

"Many people will be able to (pay rent) through their insurance policy or through their incomes, others will require assistance, and there's the accommodation supplement, and there's emergency housing packages which are available," Mr Heatley said.

"We hope to cover it off, but what we do want to make clear is essentially that we'll be providing this housing as a supplement to what the private sector will provide and there will be a cost to it for those living there."

People in need of assistance would have to show their houses were uninhabitable and that they were unable to access accommodation elsewhere.

"We'll be going over them with options of how they meet the costs of that on a week-by-week basis in terms of rental. Now they may need some sort of government help for that - we understand that and we'll be working through that process."

- NZPA