May 14th 2018

                                 A Tale of Two Cities

Palmerston North has a large number of students who choose to study in the city,they share flats and they all contribute to the rental costs of their accommodation.This is not the case with the pensioners who rent their accommodation from the City Council,many of whom live alone.The Palmerston North City Councillors intend to increase their rents to market rents at present they pay a fair rent considering their  low incomes.

Rumour has it that their are 12 councillors who are very much in favour of pushing ahead with the market rent increases and that 4 are against these large increases in their rental costs.There is a sizable gulf of opinion between the city councillors and pensioner tenants,so much for the caring city that the council tries to portray to the wider community.

It is vital that there is affordable accommodation for this sector of our city,these are people who don' have a voice or choice in their accommodation needs.The City Council appears to have become complacent on the issue of charging market for those who can least afford to absorb these draconian increases.

The Palmerston North City Council has to show leadership and a certain amount of empathy towards its low income tenants,not penalize them. The City Council has a good name as being fair and decent landlord,it will be a blot on its good name if they move to introduce markets rents, this ideological policy has to stop in the interests of the wider decent community that represents fairness for pensioner rents.

May  11th 2018

                                 The MTU  presented its submission to the Palmerston North City Council ,the Housing Advice Center  followed us with their submission.The submissions were concerned about the City  Council,who seem determined to introduce market rents for their their pensioner housing.There are 12 councillors who are for the for the introduce of unfair rents and 4 who are against proposed increases to market rents.

                                 Pensioner market rents is not about redistributing the crumbs from the city council's table but restoring fairness to its elderly tenants.Taking from those who have the least to give,is just plain wrong.

                                 There is a sizable gulf it would seem between the City Councillors and their pensioner tenants.It is vital that there is affordable housing for the weak and vulnerable who don't have a voice or a choice.How we as a city look after our pensioners is a good indication of a inclusive and caring community.The city council it would appear has become complaisant on the issue of charging market rents for those who can least afford them.Housing affordability is a serious issue for many New Zealanders,we think that the Palmerston North City Council should show leadership and empathy with their low income tenants.

                                 Palmerston North City Council along with Housing New Zealand provide a level of security of tenure that is not available in the private sector.This security is vital to the tenants as it provides better health outcomes and less stress and they feel connected to a neighbourhood.

                                   As they get older they don't need more worries about their accommodation costs,many only want to contribute to their community in which they reside.Housing is a necessity not a commodity.

             

               

May 4th 2018

                          Housing Policy That Works.

Sounds simple but Finland have a housing model called

''Housing First '' and it shows it's always more cost- effective to try to end homelessness rather than manage it.The ''Housing First '' appears to work,from 2008 to 2014 the number of people who were homeless decreased by 1200 and continues to fall.Finland is the only European country where this has happened,so their policy works for the homeless,and the wider community.

The model is quite simple ;when people are homeless,you give them housing first - a stable home,rather than progressing them through several layers of temporary and transitional accommodation as is the practice in New Zealand.The idea stems from the belief that people  who are homeless need a home,other issues can be addressed once they are in stable housing.It is accepted that having a home can solve health and social problems much easier.

Implementing housing first is not reasonable without proper housing options.In Finland,housing options included the use of social housing ,buying flats from the private sector to be used as rental apartments for homeless people,and building new housing blocks for supported housing.An important part of the programme was the extensive conversion of shelters  and dormitory - type hostels into supported housing,to address the  huge need for accommodation that offered help to tenants.

All this cost's money,but there is ample evidence from many countries that show it is always more- cost effective to aim to end homelessness instead of simply trying to manage it.

Investment in ending homelessness always pays back,to say nothing of the human and ethical reasons.To say that the scarcity of funding is the reason for the lack of affordable social housing is either an understatement or a conscious misunderstanding.It is simply a question of political will.

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