Times are getting tougher,and winter is still to arrive,when there is more pressure on the houshold budget.The Manawatu Tenants Union,is seeing an increasing number of tenants facing eviction on various grounds,in most cases young children are involoved.This problem of evictions is being duplicated all over the country.Here in Palmerston North,there are numerous vacant state houses which could be and should be used to house evicted families in the short term.

The bottom line is that there is not enough affordable housing available.The rationing of state houses,means some families will lose out and some will not even get access to affordable housing in the private sector.
 Its not rocket science to see where that takes us.

Hi There.

We have heard back from the Minister of Housing requesting more information from the Offical Information Act 1992 on the reports done on the ,Housing New Zealand housing portfolio here in Palmerston North,they have requested a 20 day extension,so we will keep you informed when we next hear from HNZ.

The Labour Party have a new Shadow Minister of Housing Phil Twyford,so we will be keeping an eye on his views and vision  for the rental sector in New Zealand and Generation Rent.

       The Manawatu Tenants Union wrote to the then Minister of Housing Phil Heatly,requesting,under the Offical Information Act 1992,information on: 'theseismic activity reports,carried out on behalf of Housing New Zealand,in Palmerston North'.

       We were informed that the Corporation is carrying out detailed desktop seismic assessments on all residential properties intially identified as earthquake prone.As at Dec.24 2012 ,21 state houses in Palmerston North had been confirmed as being earthquake pron,and 4 had been confirmed as an earthquake risk.We replied thanking them but we would still like to sight the actual reports,I have written to the new Minister Nick Smith asking him todo what he can to d]get the reports to the Manawatu Tenants Union,as soon as possible.We will keep you ted on the outcoposme.

    Here are the the main points from the main political parties on the housing crisis.These were taken from a statement from Community Housing Aotearoa in their Doorways newsletter. 


National Party

Build 2000 housesover the next 2 years.

Free up land to make it available for building  more homes.

Work with local authorities to streamline processes.

Labour Party

Put 100.000 families into their first home.

Invest in a large scale 10 year building programme of entry level houses.

Introduce a Warrant of Fitness which means every landlord have to ensure every rental property is a healthy home with proper insulation and heating.


Green Party


Increase acquisition and building of state housing units by at least 3,000 units a year for the next 3 years.

Provide funding to third sector housing organisations.

Remove legal and institutional  barriers to the to the development of co-operative housing,eco-villages self-built,sweat equityhousing,shared ownership and papakainga housing.


New Zealand has a serious housing problem so the above ideas are worthwhile as a large scale state building programme is required,it is as simple as that.But at the end of the day politicians both local and central really dont understand,peoples struggles to keep a roof over their heads,as they themselfs are insulated from it by wealth,expenses and unfair perks.So we will be keeping an eye on what they do not what they say.