TL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state house was a privilege, not a right. He could not guarantee those evicted or their families would avoid becoming homeless.
The Human Rights Commissioner called on the Government last year to recognise housing as a human right after a two year investigation, given multiple Governments had signed up to binding international treaties that included housing as a human right. Bishop and Finance Minister Nicola Willis ordered Kāinga Ora in a letter to replace the ‘Sustaining Tenancies’ framework set up in 2017 under the previous National-led Government to prevent tenants being kicked out.
“They will have to consider a range of accommodation options, as to what they do. Maybe bunking with friends and family, maybe looking to the private rental market if they possibly can.” Chris Bishop on where the evicted might go.
Bishop said he expected a much more credible threat of eviction would improve behaviour and reduce arrears, but housing and poverty activists warned of the risks of more homelessness, especially for children. Labour spokesperson Kieran McAnulty described the move as premature before houses were built and Green spokesperson Tamatha Paul said the Government was “punishing people for being poor.”
(Paying subscribers can see more detail and analysis below the paywall fold and in the podcast above immediately. I’ll open it up for full public reading, listening and sharing if paying subscribers want me to by liking this article more than 100 times.)
Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy today:
Listen to this episode with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Kākā by Bernard Hickey to listen to this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
