September  18th  2017.

                             Just to carry on from" Who made them homeless".The Prime Minister at the time Jim Bolger has now come out and said that the neoliberalism ideology his government followed has failed to deliver to a better society for all New Zealanders.

                              All it has delivered is a broken society with an increase in housing poverty and health care,the old saying comes to mind "the rich gets all the gravy and the poor gets all the blame",how true that has turned out to be.

                              So it is quite an admission  for Mr. Bolger to say that his government got it wrong. National Prime Minister's since have just carried on with their failed policies that have delivered the broken society that is the new normal in our country today.

                           This is why there has to be a change in direction for the next incoming  government,so that future generations have a brighter future to look forward to,they deserve that along with hope that we can do better for all New Zealanders.

So make sure you get out and vote and make it count so that is hope that things will improve for all of us who call New Zealand home.     

                   Renters Cookbook  Launch

 September 21st at the Youth Space Coleman Pl./ George Street

                      6.30     Till     8.00

                The Manawatu Tenants Union working along side

Massey University Students Association are having a cookbook 

launch on Thursday 21st. in the Youth Space Center.

                     There will be a microphone floating around for questions from the floor on issues concerning renting flats we hope to have stories about renters bad experiences when flatting. There will be a panel consisting of Keith Hilson [HNZ ]

 Michelle Flavel [Womens Refuge ]  Alistair Saywell [Property Investors Association ] and Kevin Reilly [Manawatu Tenants Union].Throughout the discussions and rants, snacks will be available and Ben and Daniel will be cooking some dishes from the cookbook.

So come along and bring a plate if you want that would be great, should be an interesting night for everyone,OK see you there.

                             

September 11th  2017

                                Interesting to read the story  by Paul Mitchell Sept. 9th  "Landlords wary of Reforms". Lets cut to the chase here,landlords will still have power and control over their tenants and apply to the Tenancy Tribunal for evictions on breaches of the RTA 1986. Landlords are running a business not a charity.

                                The culture of renting is now  the norm in New Zealand society,generation rent is the future for increasing numbers of families.The housing reforms from the 1993 National,introduced a range of policies which directly caused the housing crisis that faces New Zealand today.

                                 As for the comments from National MP Ian Mckelvie that the proposed rental changes proposed by the Labour party would drive out investors out of the rental market,is just nonsense.To state that the government providing the provision of housing would be detrimental for all New Zealanders is beyond the pale and highlights just how removed he is from the lives of everyday New Zealanders.

                                 Housing New Zealand maybe the biggest landlord in the country but private landlords control the rental market with 87% of that market,Housing New Zealand are small players in the bigger picture,more state housing is needed not less and it will bring a bit of competition to the rental market,which is fair for all those seeking affordable and decent housing.

       

Who Made Them Homeless.

September  8th 2017.

                          Over the last 25 years, New Zealand has gone from being one of the most egalitarian societies in the developed world to one of the least egalitarian,on the issue of the rental housing market.

                          The 1984 Labour Government had a number of

members Roger Douglas,Richard Prebble to name just two,who pushed to see the selling of state houses to the private sector they did not believe in central government provision of rental housing.Helen Clark was the Minister of Housing at the time and fought a long battle,for government provision of state housing for working class families.She won the battle for Labour's values and belief in supporting the wider community.

                       When the National Party won the election in 1990 it was a changing point in New Zealand' political history.John Luxton became the Minister of Housing and straight away introduced the Housing Reforms that was the catalyst for the housing crisis that we have today. Luxton was captured by the Business Round Table and implemented their report "Some Broader Perspectives"on housing policy.The bottom line was that Housing New Zealand  should sell all its housing stock to private investors and retain around 10,000 state homes for emergency housing.Introduce market rents for all state houses,and introduce an accommodation supplement for renters who struggle to pay market rents,a landlords subsidy.Another area covered by the reforms was the disestablishment of State Advances,Housing New Zealand Loans and the Capitalization of Benefits.All these programmes to first home ownership were scraped with the stroke of the minister's pen,up till then New Zealand had one of the highest home ownership rates in the developed world.Local Authorities were also put under pressure to sell their housing stock many did so,the Minister John Luxton stated that the reform programme would deliver tenants choice in their housing along with cheaper rents,this never happened all that was delivered  was poverty and homelessness.The National Government sold 13,500 plus state homes,92% were bought by private investors only 8%of tenants were in a position to purchase their homes. In some cases private investors paid up to $16,000 less than the sitting tenant.

The incoming Labour  government started a building programme to replace the state homes that were sold off, made moves to improve the Residential Tenancies Act for tenants. 

However the new National Government under John Key started a sell off of state housing and Housing New Zealand was downsized to become a property management company with the Ministry of Social Development providing tenants,it is a system that has not worked out for the increasing number of people looking for affordable housing.The fact that the government is having to use motels to put homeless families is a sign of a system in serious trouble,there is an election soon so lets hope that there is a change in housing policy.It is time for central government to stand up for the weak  and put the power of government at the service of those seeking affordable accommodation.It is time to reflect on the good that government can do,make sure you vote and vote for change.