New social housing on Kauri Place, Hastings. Photo / Jie Pang
New social housing on Kauri Place, Hastings. Photo / Jie Pang
The Green Party is challenging Labour and National to commit to clearing the social housing waitlist - now close to 25,000 applicants-long - launching a policy to build enough state houses to clear it in five years.
The policy is part of a wider announcement this morning in Wellington which will detail how the massive scale-up of public housing needed would be achieved. It will be part of a broader housing package tackling renter issues and housing supply.
It comes as the latest data shows demand for social housing, supplied by state landlord Kāinga Ora and community housing providers, is increasing again after a slight dip last year.
As of May, there were 24,836 applicants on the waitlist.
In December, it dropped to 23,129, but experts at the time warned that could be shortlived with immigration on the rise again - increasing demand for housing while building consents declined and cost of living pressures continued to bite, as has turned out to be the case.
Demand for social housing has been increasing since 2015.
Since Labour came into Government in 2017 it has increased more than fourfold. Labour has criticised National for selling off state houses during its previous time in Government when the net number of properties decreased.
Labour has since increased the number of public houses by more than 12,000 - including nearly 5000 under Kāinga Ora and just over 7000 through community housing providers.
But despite the increase it has barely made a dent in demand and National has pointed the finger at Labour’s housing policies it says have affected the private rental market.
Neither party, however, has made any commitment to clearing the waitlist.
Greens public housing spokesman Ricardo Menendez March said this was not good enough.
“The Green Party has been committed for many years to ensure everyone on the waiting list has access to a warm and dry home.
“We are committing to ending it in five years.”
Menendez March questioned Housing Minister Megan Woods about this in Parliament this week, where she declined to commit to a timeframe.
Woods said that along with building more houses the Government was looking to increase affordable rentals by working with a range of providers.
She said it had committed to funding the public housing build programme out to 2025, delivering 21,000 places.
The minister said it was up to other parties to put forward costed manifestos to commit to public housing, both in terms of the capital needed for building and operational funding.
Green Party public housing spokesman Ricardo Menendez March.
Menendez March said the Government needed to provide a long-term commitment and not use the issue as a “political football” waiting to see what the National Party would come up with.
“We believe the communities sleeping in motels, homeless, in overcrowded housing deserve this Government to think in the long term and not use their experiences as a political football.”
The pressures on social housing also appear to be filtering through to emergency accommodation, with the number of households starting to increase again after hitting a low point in January of 3279 households.
As of April, there were 3396 households in emergency accommodation, such as motels, including 3393 children, with just over $26 million paid out in grants.
Meanwhile, the time spent in emergency accommodation continues to increase, with the average stay up to 26 weeks - up from 21 weeks a year ago, and three weeks back in 2018.
Emergency housing was designed as a short-term option for those most in need, but a growing number of residents have now lived in motels for two years or longer.
As of April, there were 141 households that had been in emergency accommodation for more than two years - up from 63 a year ago and 18 the year before that.
Data released to the Green Party also showed over the past 40 years the percentage of people who rented public housing had fallen hugely, from 39 per cent in 1981 to 15 per cent in 2018.
It is understood the party will also launch a policy today targeting rental security.
