The Government is fronting up with $100 million to support those in urgent need of housing, Housing Minister Phil Twyford says.
Some $37 million will go into urgently increasing housing supply this winter, with the remaining $63 million being spread over four years to expand and sustain 1450 Housing First homes.
“Housing First is a programme for the most vulnerable people and families; those who are really struggling with long-term homelessness or facing multiple and complex needs. It aims to end homelessness, not just manage it,” says Twyford.
By the end of this winter, Twyford says there will be an additional 1500 transitional, public and Housing First places compared with the end of last year.
The capital earmarked for the Housing First programme will come from new operating spending in Budget 2018.
The Government will boost the funding for ongoing services in the more than 900 current Housing First houses holds across the country by $20.5 million.
The remaining $43 million will be used to add a further 550 houses in regions outside Auckland, Christchurch, Tauranga, Hamilton and Lower Hutt.
“Homelessness is the sharp end of the national housing crisis which was created over the past decade. New Zealand needs more houses and we’re working on this.”
35 Comments
This is like to throw a grenade to bomb out mosquitoes - a quote from President Xi on how his predecessors solved poverty issues in China.
Without accurate data/info on who need what at where on when and why, government is simply throwing $100 million dollars into a black-hole.
There may be some house built up but have you solved the problem?!?!
Government needs competent leaders NOT cheerleaders!
Unbelievable this Mr Twyford.
Where are all these Kiwibuild homes?
He has not got any underway thru his own bat!
He is totally delusional and he would be far better better off keeping his mouth shut as he has done nothing whatsoever that he has said he will!
Homelessness is in every country in the world but it is generally by choice in NX.
This government haven’t got a clue and would be better off looking after the middle class who pay for everything because without them the so-called homeless will get nothing?
COL that is getting worse by the week!
Where is Winston?
All major cities have a homeless problem. Without doubt it would be nice to eradicate it. I am all for helping the needy, absolutely. Did we have homelessness under Helen Clark. Of course we did and she managed it well and did not get out and, as someone aptly in this blog put it, put out grenades to eradicate mosquitoes. These actions by our ministers will not help alleviate concerns which leads to low business and general confidence.
NZ has never had homelessness to the extent we have no not in my lifetime anyway. I think its a disgrace. We have sold off our peoples future to a bunch of foreigners who cant believe how easy its been. Just had a stint in asia for work. I encourage Kiwis to go and experience it. As a kiwi you cant buy any property and if you think we are racist you need to have experience on the other side.
Well, not really. The children's grandparents still live at home and so I can quite understand holding on to property there in the event a move back for family reasons arises. It's the Singaporean government rules that prevent dual-citizenship - and the point I was making was that if relinquishing citizenship in Singapore one also has to relinquish any property holdings. They also retained a house and a business in Auckland. Tremendously hard working - good people/good values and a lovely family. NZ is lucky to have them here.
That is patently untrue. I was just reviewing the rules yesterday, in the city (Johor) I want to buy in foreigners can buy any property so long as it is worth more than RM 1,000,000 (roughly 300,000 NZD). The harshest requirement in the country is double that with the laxest being 1/3 of that. I am however quite set on Johor due to the proximity of the place to Singapore. There was also some mention about a MM2H iniative that lowered the minimum value of housing that could be owned by a foreigner.
My question is, take a long hard look at the wealth our nation has, at its real resources, land, labour, technology.....is there any reason why we should have homelessness in this rich nation other than that we have chosen to tolerate it in the name of market efficiency and the enrichment of a few? It is irrational.
Keynes:"The whole conduct of life was made into a sort of parody of an accountant’s nightmare. Instead of using their vastly increased material and technical resources to build a wonder city, the men of the nineteenth century built slums; and they thought it right and advisable to build slums because slums, on the test of private enterprise, “paid,” whereas the wonder city would, they thought, have been an act of foolish extravagance, which would, in the imbecile idiom of the financial fashion, have “mortgaged the future”–though how the construction to-day of great and glorious works can impoverish the future, no man can see until his mind is beset by false analogies from an irrelevant accountancy. Even to-day I spend my time–half vainly, but also, I must admit, half successfully–in trying to persuade my countrymen that the nation as a whole will assuredly be richer if unemployed men and machines are used to build much needed houses than if they are supported in idleness. For the minds of this generation are still so beclouded by bogus calculations that they distrust conclusions which should be obvious, out of a reliance on a system of financial accounting which casts doubt on whether such an operation will “pay.” We have to remain poor because it does not “pay” to be rich. We have to live in hovels, not because we cannot build palaces but because we cannot “afford” them."
Sadly, history tells us that we tolerate this, at least those who benefit from it do, until it becomes intolerable, then things get messy, with revolutions when we were less global, with global conflict as we became more global. I do believe we are moving ever closer to another large conflict, as inequality grows and we find we have fewer and fewer ways to tackle it and less and less money to do it, as the money gets concentrated into fewer and fewer hands. It is just about as sure as night follows day.
It's good news. In a country as well-off as NZ, wealth ought to be re-distributed in such a way that enables everyone to have a reasonable roof over their head.
But will Labour's latest policy promise/commitment get traction - or will it get overtaken by other events?
Like many others, I do worry about this......
TTP
@TTP do fool yourself into believing that NZ is so "well-off" that we can afford to have it miraculously re-distributed and everyone will end up "well-off'
What exactly is going to be "re-distributed" from someone say like myself without reducing me to poverty ?
Redistribute my house to a family of 10 ?
Redistribute my income which comes from my profession ?
Redistribute our assets , which is the capital used by the Banks and the likes of Fonterra and Auckland Airport or the Ports of Tauranga to run their businesses ?
Redistribute the income from our assets which is a large source of Revenue for NZ in Income tax, Tax on Interest , and Dividend withholding tax.
Redistribute my ability to spend in the economy ............to whom ?
Is the plan to reduce me to welfare dependency when I currently contribute to the welfare of the country ?
The captain I flew with is a kiwi and been living in Asia 7 years. He has an Indonesian wife who also held British citizenship from her father. The only way they were able to buy property was for her to rescind her British passport and have everything in her name only, so I have no idea how you are getting your information that any foreigner can buy as long as its over $300k Kiwi.
As long as our immigration door remains wide open currently net year on year gain of 68,000 people we can only expect more homelessness. 68,000 immigrants aren't sleeping in tents, They displace low socio NZers who can't compete financially.
The housing crises is just the tip of the iceberg for what high immigration is going to cost NZ.
1/2 a million immigrants in less than 10 yrs and they step off the plane and get our infrastructure for free. Who pays for the new infrastructure that this 1/2 million people need? we all have to!
Who pays for the health care and schooling and social services that this 1/2 million people need? We all have to, we the tax payer.
What have we gained by sharing our country with 1/2 a million people in less than 10 yrs?
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