A Kāinga Ora house for sale in Gisborne at 4 Tui St. Photo / Anne-Marie De Bruin
The sale of Kāinga Ora-owned homes and land has come under fire from a woman at the coalface of the homelessness issue in Gisborne.
The sales are part of a financial “reset” of state housing provider Kāinga Ora that was announced in June, including the cessation of hundreds of housing developments and the sale of “some homes and land that do not meet our current, or future, needs”.
“With Kāinga Ora being slimmed down, coupled with the lack of supply of housing and sales of Kāinga Ora-acquired land, it appears a clear signal that the responsibility of housing is falling less on central and local government,” said Lizz Crawford, the manager of Oasis Community Shelter in Kaiti.
Oasis provides a shelter for men who may have been sleeping rough in the Gisborne district and is also an outreach to connect with services like health.
When contacted by the Gisborne Herald, Kāinga Ora provided some information on planned sales of homes and land it owns around New Zealand.
“We currently plan to sell about 36 hectares of land that is no longer needed for either new social housing projects or for urban development work,” an information sheet on land sales said.
Land included a range of larger sites in Auckland and Wellington, as well as “smaller vacant sites across the country which are not needed for social housing projects”.
Kāinga Ora properties on the market and properties sold were also listed online. These included properties in Gisborne, on the Coast and at Te Karaka.
A social housing property for sale as at July 31 is 4 Tui St in Gisborne.
Vacant land Kāinga Ora has for sale in Kaiti as at July 31 is at 43 Ranfurly St, 5 Lawrence St, 23 Cavendish Cres and 28 Dalton St.
Land at Tolaga Bay is also on the market – at 2,4,6,8 and 10 Discovery St and 1 and 9 Adventure Ave.
Elgin properties sold as at July 31 were 47, 49, 51 and 53 Centennial Cres, as well as 8 Puriri St.
In Te Karaka, the property at 22 Currie St had sold.
“Like any developer, we are continually reviewing the land we own to see if it is still fit for purpose, and as such, it is expected that the divestment of sites will be an ongoing process,” the Kāinga Ora information said.
“It is likely that further sites will be added to our divestment programme in the future.”
In a separate statement to the Gisborne Herald, the agency said: “Market conditions are continually evolving, demand for new housing can change, and more detailed due diligence may mean sites intended for redevelopment no longer work for us.”
Crawford said the selling of properties was part of an ongoing crisis.
“It appears we have not only a housing crisis, but a societal crisis, which has more than likely exacerbated the lack of housing for the most vulnerable of society.
“There are countries that have actively reduced homelessness, and it is sad to see that New Zealand is not one of them. We have done the opposite and not only turned a blind eye, but perhaps our backs, too,” she said.
In response to questions about homelessness and housing, East Coast MP Dana Kirkpatrick said the Government had recently released the latest Homelessness Insights Report and announced “a series of actions to reduce the number of people living without shelter, including sleeping rough in New Zealand”.
The report “confirms what frontline organisations have been saying ... there are too many people in housing need. Accurate numbers are difficult to pin down. People without shelter often move around and may avoid engaging with government services, but it’s clear we have a real problem”, she said.
The Government was making “a serious response” to housing issues, Kirkpatrick said.
“At present, over $550 million is spent annually across a range of programmes run by multiple agencies, including Transitional Housing, Housing First, Rapid Rehousing and many other support services.
“We’ve made it clear that officials should engage with frontline providers to do this because they are the organisations working at the frontline of this problem. We will not be returning to the previous Government’s large-scale emergency housing model, which cost over $1 million a day at its peak and was a social disaster.”
The Government was reviewing housing support services, she said.
“Our aim is to make the system simpler, more effective and reduce duplication. We want to fund what works.”
“We’re also looking at ways to improve the social housing system to ensure it delivers the right homes in the right places for the right people. The Government has recently changed Kāinga Ora’s funding settings to enable the agency to build more one-bedroom units. About 50% of people on the Housing Register require a one-bedroom unit, but they only make up about 12% of Kāinga Ora’s housing stock.”
Some new homes were blessed recently on Kowhai St in Te Hapara and were ready for tenants to move in.