Green Party spokesperson for housing Tamantha Paul said that houses shouldn't be left empty.

"If there's a house and it's safe to live in, then we should fill those houses. It's crazy that houses would sit abandoned when we have people sleeping in cars and on the street."

One tax that could be done is called an "empty home" tax.

An empty house tax like the name suggests is a tax imposed on houses that are left unoccupied for a certain length of time.

AUT senior lecturer of taxation Ranjana Gupta said that she believes an empty home tax is the answer. Read more

The draft plan for 2024-34 proposes rates rise by nearly 19.9% next financial year and by 15.5% annually for the following four years.

On Thursday's day two of the hearings, Glenview pensioner John Walker, 75, said he'd calculated his rates were set to rise from just over $3200 a year now to nearly $7000 by 2028-29. Read more

Starting with only $10 in the bank, the transformed Housing Trust now manages 31 rental spaces, housing 110 individuals across 41 households.

It also owns its first property.

Emboldened by their mission, the Trust rented a property privately and subleased it to a tenant in need, all with the owner's knowledge.

The success of the Trust is attributed to high-quality tenancy management, an efficient maintenance team, cost-effective operations and a dedicated volunteer board, all committed to the belief that housing is a basic human right, reports NZ Catholic.

"The Trust offers a financial and emotional cushion for tenants during difficult times, preventing them from falling back into homelessness," a Trust spokesperson told NZ Catholic.

According to NZ Catholic, the Trust excels at transitioning people from temporary to permanent housing while minimising the financial burden for its tenants, who typically struggle with low incomes and historical debt.

With its well-established reputation, the Trust has garnered more opportunities to manage rental properties and has secured a contract with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, providing transitional housing and enabling it to hire staff to manage the properties.

While the Upper Hutt Housing Trust's approach centres on the principle of 'housing first' followed by continued support services to maintain secure, affordable and sustainable housing, it now also assists its tenants with job opportunities and work experiences.

As part of a comprehensive range of wrap-around services, the Trust offers and encourages independence and assists tenants with job opportunities, work experiences and chances to move into paid work.

As the Trust continues to provide housing services successfully, it aims to become a community housing provider and is considering managing a seven-day emergency shelter for the most vulnerable.

Trust membership has also expanded to include neighbouring Catholic and other Christian parishes and groups, and currently includes:

Source

• NZ Catholic
• Upper Hutt Housing Trust

Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt admits in the past the Commission has failed to hold successive governments accountable for their housing failures.

Not anymore though.

The Commission is launching a big push, including a new section on its website to educate the public on what the "right to a decent home" means: habitability, affordability, cultural appropriateness, accessibility, location, infrastructure, services and security of tenure.

The right to a decent home does not include sleeping rough - on park benches, streets, laundromats, waiting for years for social housing, and run-down rentals.

Local government also will be under the Commission's spotlight from next year. It'll be looking to see if local government is doing all it can to ensure people have access to a decent home.

Local government is obliged to, Hunt says.

"Are their district plans up to date? Are they reflecting the right to a decent home? Are there fast-track procedures for consents with the right to a decent home?"

In August 2021, the Commission released its framework defining the right to a decent home.

The Commission has also been compiling statistics to help the public judge whether the Government is making progress in providing access to decent homes.

Numbers like state houses per head of population have improved in recent years. Others, like deprivation, have declined.

"I do want to emphasise that this Government, more than any other Government for decades, is taking the housing crisis seriously, and it really does deserve credit for a number of housing initiatives," says Hunt.

He believes the housing crisis occurred because nobody held governments to account for delivering on housing - a result of abolishing the Housing Commission in 1988.

The Commission should have done more and sooner, he admits.

"But nobody was holding Government to account for its promise to do everything it could to deliver the right to a decent home … the human right was just about invisible and that is inconsistent with the promises New Zealand was making in Geneva, in New York, in the United Nations."

That failure is why he calls the crisis 'a failure in democracy', he says.

The media, the Commission, judges and Parliament all failed to hold the Government to account in relation to this human right.

That right is recognised in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. New Zealand signed up to the declaration and maintained a Human Rights Commission since 1977.

"The right to a decent home requires the Government to take all reasonable steps towards realising the right to a decent home for everyone."

"The Government does have this obligation to do everything it can to progressively realise this human right."

Source

• Stuff

It made the comments in its submission to the Finance and Expenditure Committee about the Budget Policy Statement 2022.

Inequality has increased during the Covid crisis and both short-term and long-term measures are required to deal with this, Caritas said.

Listening to local and most-affected communities would help, Caritas suggests. This way the Government will be better informed to tackle ongoing crises.

Its submission spells out five specific concerns for the Government to consider.

Housing

Unaffordable, unavailable housing is an issue numerous support agencies are anxious about.

The cost of living is scarily high. Rental prices have surged yet again to an average of $575 a week. That's an increase of 7 per cent on last year. If you're living in Porirua, you'll be spending an average of $670 a week.

"The rent increases are huge and it's having a real impact on whanau, their ability to provide the necessities," says Porirua's Salvation Army Nicki Dutton.

"Lots of people are staying with friends or staying in cars, a lot of overcrowding. I've heard recently of a family of 13, extended whanau in a three-bedroom house."

Caritas says access to a wide range of safe, affordable and healthy homes remains one of New Zealand's most pressing social issues. It's a concern that is affecting people across the country.

It would like to see a broader approach to accommodation being taken: including it "in the objectives relating to physical and mental wellbeing, and the just transition."

Environmental support

Caritas says increased climate funding to address the climate emergency needs to be accountable to taxpayers and communities most in need.

"Assessment of impact needs to be based on criteria relevant to local communities," says Caritas.

"We support directing proceeds from the Emissions Trading Scheme to the new Climate Emergency Response Fund (CERF), and look forward to seeing clear directives, funding criteria for projects and evaluation of impact towards New Zealand's climate response."

Health and COVID-related funding

Caritas submitted that the government needs to prioritise appropriate funding and relevant data for Maori, Pasifika, the elderly, people with disabilities and those with underlying health conditions.

The health system's overhaul needs to take sufficient account of subsidiarity - that decisions be made at the most appropriate level to ensure responsiveness and accountability to local communities.

Technology

Caritas welcomes new technologies and greater digital connectivity to provide jobs and more sustainable ways of working.

Technology and the economy must serve the common good of humanity, the Agency cautioned. "Nothing can replace face to face encounters and the need for genuine human connection and interaction."

It recommends an "integrated approach to providing services" to allow "full participation in ways appropriate to different people."

Te Ao Maori

"We support inclusion of Te Ao Maori perspectives with the Living Standards Framework as applicable to the wellbeing of all ... and which also supports a long-term intergenerational approach to wellbeing," Caritas wrote.

Source

• NewsHub
• Supplied: Caritas Submission on Budget Policy Statement 2022

Palmerston North mother Lisa Wesselson made a desperate plea for housing when the place she called home was suddenly not hers anymore.

Toxic mould had become evident in the house her family rented and the landlord decided to renovate and sell the property.

The pregnant mother, who is nearing the end of her time, said it was a struggle to find a suitable home for her husband and children, despite having references and an income.

Prospective landlords and property managers turned their noses up when she mentioned how many children she has.

Three weeks before the end of their tenancy, Wesselson put up a plea asking for help on her Facebook page and told her story to Stuff.

"We've been looking at three or four-bedroom houses," she said. "Every time I apply for a house they tell me we have too many people.

"That night a friend of a friend reached out to us," Wesselson says.

"He said, ‘don't worry, I've got a place you can have', and I can't begin to tell you how incredible that felt."

With just over a week until Wessleson is due to deliver her fifth child, the family is busy moving into their new home.

"I have the biggest smile on my face. It is such a relief to know the kids will be living in a dry and healthy home, because that what was most important for us," she says.

"It's just a huge weight off my shoulders".

Previous experiences in emergency housing had left Wessleson fearful of bringing a newborn baby into an unstable environment.

She says of the 20 weeks the family had spent in emergency housing, only two had been in the same motel.

"We've been to Masterton, Bulls... whenever the stockcars come we have to go," Wesselson says.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development's public housing quarterly report stated that, as of September 2021, demand for housing had risen by 15 per cent.

Of those, 92 per cent were ‘priority A', meaning they were considered high risk and had severe and persistent housing needs that needed to be addressed immediately.

Across the central region, there were 1457 applicants on the housing register and, in New Zealand, there were over 25,000 people waiting for permanent housing.

Wessleson says she wants to find a way to advocate for the many people struggling to find a house to call home.

"Anything I can do. for people in the same position we have been in, I want to be able to support them," she says.

"People are so quick to judge, but everyone has a story. If I can help others that are in the same position we have been in, then I will do what I can."

Source

• Stuff
• Image: Stuff

The Army's fourth State of Our Communities Report focuses on Invercargill, Carterton and Tokoroa; three very different towns whose residents are facing similar challenges.

Using public data and interviews with 580 residents across the three towns, the report illustrates the challenges and aspirations of those living there.

Rising house prices have forced many first homeowners out of major cities into smaller regions. Read more

Worth billions in assets, some churches are spending millions building social and affordable accommodation on surplus land.

There is pressure on others to ensure their investments reap social as well as financial rewards.

Paul Gilberd, a senior member of the Anglican Church, estimates the Anglican, Catholic and Methodist churches are collectively worth more than $10 billion.

They could be the "nation's life preserver" if they put more of their massive wealth into housing, he says.

He and others are looking at the future use of Anglican Church assets worth more than $3b.

Their report "He waka eke noa" (A waka we are all in together), says the credibility of demands made by church leaders in annual meetings with the prime minister "have for years been undermined by our lack of courage and action given the collective billions in assets we hold within the church."

The report notes the church is a significant landowner, with some of that land gifted by Maori, and given the desperate housing needs, particularly for Maori and Pasifika, it should be mindful of criticism in the Bible about "those who own land and do not provide housing for the poor."

After reading the report, the Anglican general synod has asked those responsible for managing its assets to ensure investments are "mission-aligned" and meet standards of "fruitful stewardship".

Stepping up to meet social and affordable housing is seen as a priority. Dioceses will report back next year on efforts to meet synod expectations.

About a third of the 60 Anglican Wellington region parishes have identified surplus land that could be used for up to 200 homes.

The Wellington Anglican Diocesan trust board hopes the first of 26 social housing units costing $7m will get underway next year. Others are planned.

The board has also put $1m (about 2 percent of its total capital) into Christian Savings, an ecumenical finance company.

A further $180m is on loan to churches and faith-based charities.

Christian Savings lending manager Dan Mazengarb​ says $1m allows organisations to lend almost $18m for residential projects.

Demand for community housing finance has tripled in the last five years and now makes up about 20 percent of lending.

Mazengarb​ says although the Anglican, Catholic and Methodist churches borrow from Christian Savings, they tend to deposit their money elsewhere, despite Christian Savings' good record and higher rates of return.

To overcome regulatory limits on its lending capacity, Christian Savings set up Community Finance to provide capital for community housing.

It has raised $71m through bond issues, lending $40m to the Salvation Army to build 118 Auckland social housing units. It has over 1000 houses in the pipeline throughout the country.

The Salvation Army says many churches would be uncomfortable with the level of debt they have. However, applications for housing places are far exceeded by applications and referrals.

At the end of March, there were nearly 24,000 households on the public housing waiting list, 45 percent more than a year earlier, far surpassing the extra 8000 housing places the Government aims to deliver by 2024.

Source

• Stuff
• Image: The Salvation Army

As at March 31, there were 4368 children living in motels across the country - up by 480 in three months. At the end of December there were 3888 children in motels.

There were 465 children in motels for less than four weeks in the three months to December - that jumped to 804 to the end of March.

However - motels are leaving the scheme, with the latest being the Nautilus Motel in Napier, despite making upwards of $1.5 million in just nine months. Read more

Its goal was to urgently help people in need of housing, and to increase the number of smaller houses in the district.

The Horowhenua District Council ran a workshop on streamlined and affordable housing on Thursday, where councillors and members of the public heard about the innovative solution to the housing crisis. Read more

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today indicated on Morning Report a commitment to ramping up support for those living in motels.

Demand for emergency accommodation has exploded in recent years with the government now spending nearly a million dollars a day to put people up.

There are about 8500 people living in motels and other temporary accommodation, some in conditions one of the government's own ministers has described as "inhumane". Read more

New Zealand's pandemic-inspired policies have translated into cheaper mortgages, allowing affluent "kiwis" to upsize their homes and build up portfolios of rental investment properties, fuelling a further surge in house prices.

"Inequality was always growing, but COVID-19 is the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back," says Wellington City Missioner Murray Edridge.

He says the number of people seeking emergency housing in Wellington has tripled in the last year. Rents have hit record highs and the pandemic disproportionately impacted lower-earning jobs.

New Zealand is experiencing what economists call a 'K-shaped' recovery, in which those on top benefit while those at the bottom see their prospects deteriorate.

It's a global phenomenon, with the well-off using cheap access to capital and government coronavirus stimulus spending to scoop up assets from stocks to art and property.

New Zealand's pandemic-inspired policies have translated into cheaper mortgages, allowing affluent "kiwis" to upsize their homes and build up portfolios of rental investment properties, fuelling a further surge in house prices.

Around the country, New Zealand's worsening housing crisis is seeing about 4,000 children and their families living in motels and other emergency housing.

Karen Hocking, General Manager for Housing at the Ministry of Social Development says the Ministry prioritises finding these families accommodation quickly.

The housing crisis is also seeing many are unemployed and living on the streets, says Edridge.

"It's all just about housing here. No one will employ me while I live on the streets, but I can't get a home," one street dweller says.

His situation contrasts strongly with that of wealthy New Zealanders.

"The explosion of wealth inequality in New Zealand's context was related to the housing boom," says ANZ Chief Economist Sharon Zollner.

She says housing owners' increase in wealth "has been extreme."

This is because pandemic-inspired government policies have provided cheaper mortgages. These have enabled the affluent to upsize their homes and invest in rental properties, fueling a further surge in house prices and rents.

First home buyers and low income earners, however, are locked out.

A 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report found costs were 45 percent of income for households in the lowest fifth for income distribution.

It says New Zealand has the most unaffordable housing in the OECD.

Indigenous Maori, who have largely backed Ardern's leadership, are most affected as they are less likely to own property and less likely to be accepted as renters, says Ali Hamlin-Paenga, the chief executive of Kahungunu Whanau Services, a Maori social housing provider.

"Maori are in a housing crisis. There are profound inequalities, and we are always forced to fight the system."

Housing Minister Megan Woods says a raft of measures was launched in March targeted at taxing property investors and discouraging speculators, however, critics dispute the effectiveness of these measures.

As a result of these moves around sixty per cent of domestic landlords have reportedly said they will increase rents.

The 24% year-on-year increase, on top of a 90% rise in the preceding decade, has locked out first home buyers and low-income earners.

"The need for further action is clear," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says. "The last thing our economy needs right now is a dangerous housing bubble. But a number of indicators point towards that risk."

Source

• Reuters
• Image: TVNZ

While St Gerard's future is ultimately up to the owners, the church - built in 1908 for the Redemptorists - could be deconsecrated so it could be used for events like weddings and funerals, suggests City Councillor Iona Pannett!

The monastery building - which was was added in 1932 - could also be strengthened and converted to housing, she says.

"Given there is a housing crisis, obviously we want to maximise the space that we have."

Pannet, who leads the city's heritage portfolio, says it is "highly unlikely" that St Gerard's will be demolished.

"I think there would be a public outcry," she says.

"It's very hard to demolish a listed heritage building. In that case finding a strengthening solution is really important.

"I love the building, it adds something to Wellington, and the council has supported them [ICPE] but that is not going to be enough," Pannett says.

She thinks costs to strengthen the buildings will probably go above $13m.

Pannett says Heritage New Zealand's rules will allow for changes to be made to the building and its inside does not have heritage protection.

Another Wellington city councillor, Nicola Young​ says the buildings are a significant part of Wellington's landscape.

She wants to see the buildings saved and hopes they can be repurposed into apartments or a hotel.

The big red brick Category 1 heritage building overlooking Oriental Bay has been "yellow-stickered" since the Christchurch earthquakes.

Its last service after 113 years will be held on Pentecost Sunday, May 23. It will be celebrated by the Catholic Archbishop of Wellington, Cardinal John Dew​.

From then on, the fate of the quake-prone church and monastery buildings - rated at 25 per cent of the New Zealand building standard - remains unclear.

Its owners, ICPE Mission New Zealand, tried to raise funds to get the buildings up to code but, by July 2020, had only raised $42,000 of the $11 million needed. It is understood the cost is now $13m.

ICPE Mission made the decision to close the buildings in consultation with the Archdiocese of Wellington.

"Both buildings have category 1 Heritage New Zealand ratings. The ICPE Mission has yet to decide their future," ICPE Mission New Zealand director Silvana Abea says.

She says the Covid-19 pandemic means for the second year running the ICPE's School of Mission could not take place, with overseas missionaries and students unable to attend.

"At the same time, the reality of a large building that needs serious earthquake strengthening has led the ICPE Mission to rethink our long-term presence in Wellington and look at new ways of being Christ's presence in the city."

Historic Places Wellington chairwoman Felicity Wong​ is full of praise for the ICPE.

"The ICPE have looked after that building, and have made it open and welcoming to the people of Wellington.

"The church has a special place in Wellington's landscape and is an important heritage building," she says.

Source

• Stuff
• Scoop
• Image: Flickr

Skyrocketing house prices are prompting many landlords to sell, forcing up rents which are becoming unaffordable for many families.

Figures released to Checkpoint show that in September last year (the most recent figures available) there were 3350 households with one adult and at least one child in motels. Read more

Data released by the Government shows Maori and Pasifika have been the big losers since the Covid pandemic struck.

Both the Prime Minister Jacinda Adern and Finance Minister Grant Robertson are hinting Maori and Pasifika may be a core focus in this year's Budget.

This year's Budget Policy Statement, for instance, includes lifting Maori and Pacific incomes, skills and opportunities. Combatting the impacts of COVID-19 is one of the five core "wellbeing" priorities.

Other "wellbeing" priorities include:

Just Transition - Supporting the transition to a climate-resilient, sustainable and low-emissions economy while building back from COVID-19.

Future of Work - Enabling all New Zealanders and New Zealand businesses to benefit from new technologies and lift productivity and wages through innovation, and support those most affected by COVID-19, including women and young people, into employment.

Child Wellbeing - Reducing child poverty and improving child wellbeing.

Physical and Mental Wellbeing - Supporting improved health outcomes for all New Zealanders and keeping COVID-19 out of our communities.

Housing could impact on several of the wellbeing objectives, Adern and Robertson say.

To date neither Robertson nor Ardern have shared any proposals to deal with the housing crisis and the immediate challenges facing the Maori and Pasifika communities.

While Robertson is proud of December's low unemployment figures, and last year's Wage Subsidy scheme, which grew to support nearly 1.8 million jobs for New Zealanders, a Treasury study sees the success story differently.

It analysed incomes of all employees in March 2020, and how they had changed for the same people by August.

Maori and Pacific workers were more likely to have dropped into a low-income bracket (of between $200 and $300 per week). They increased by 85 percent and 69 percent respectively, while Europeans in the low-income bracket increased by 27 percent," Treasury found.

Despite this data, the Budget Policy statement reports that researchers at Victoria University of Wellington found no overall changes in the wellbeing of families, levels of conflict or support among couples, or levels of parental satisfaction during the COVID-19 crisis.

The big issue in the statement, however, is the housing crisis.

The Reserve Bank yesterday reinstated Loan to Value Ratios back to where they were before the Covid crisis in a bid to try and restrain investor money overheating the market.

From May 1 investors will need a 40 per cent deposit.

Nevertheless, the requirement for a 20 per cent deposit for a first home buyer will be another obstacle in the way of getting a house.

The government is currently looking at ways to tilt the playing field towards first-time buyers, Adern says.

The Government also has a $400 million Progressive Home Ownership Fund which is intended to help between 1,500 and 4,000 families into home ownership - a program Ardern says could be scaled up.

Source

• Politik
• Image:NewstalkZB

But we can produce an overabundance of expensive homes. So why the massive disconnect between demand and supply?

Without political ownership and a major overhaul of the current regulatory processes, affordable housing will never be delivered. New Zealand's journey to housing unaffordability has been 30-plus years in the making.

Over the past four decades, I've built hundreds of homes, and have watched the market progressively tilt towards larger homes on smaller, very expensive lots, with building time frames stretching out and productivity plummeting.

Unfortunately, this is what our current system and market dictates, but it is woefully under-delivering on what we need to house everyone, especially in the dawning era where affordability will be paramount.

The current Government's worthy political aspirations to ramp up affordable housing by 10,000 units per annum under the guise of Kiwibuild crashed and burned in spectacular fashion.

They soon realised what those of us in the industry have long known — the delivery system is broken.

At huge political embarrassment, they learned that our underlying system is plagued with hurdles, delays, costs at every turn, and is inadvertently skewed to only create high-cost land and, subsequently, high-cost homes.

It's a pipe dream to think that the current system or market will produce affordable housing without intervention, especially in urban areas.

The sad thing is that the Government's response to fixing the broken system is to change the law so that government projects can sidestep the Resource Management Act (RMA) and leave the rest of the country stuck in the regulatory mire.

Why not be brave and fix the problem for everyone, once and for all? Instead, it's an opportunity lost, and the problem kicked down the road because it's politically difficult.

There are currently many hundreds of unsold new homes sitting in Auckland and other locations around the country because those that need the housing can't afford them.

We have been building a disproportionate oversupply of expensive larger homes, with the greatest area of demand being affordable homes hardly catered for.

This needs to change, and quickly. However, if we continue to follow the same regulatory processes, how can we expect a different outcome? It just won't happen.

If we want affordable housing, we need to produce affordable land free of inflationary minimum size and design-restrictive covenants.

In reality, these covenants are put in place by developers to raise the price of subsequent section releases. They cut out a large portion of buyers who might be wanting a smaller, more efficient home.

Any meaningful changes will only come about under current systems by sidestepping the market and some of the feel-good niceties of planning, and simply getting on with pragmatically producing the housing, and centrally funding the infrastructure needed.

If the politicians have not got the wisdom or courage to change the rules that have created this mess, perhaps they will need to develop their own land that can be used for affordable housing. Previous governments have successfully done it before.

To solve this crisis, we need a different approach

The solution is relatively clear — we need fewer rules and political fortitude, as local authorities will need to be curbed and, in some cases, overruled — and not just for Government projects.

I know of one private enterprise example where a smaller local authority has been sitting on its hands for more than 12 months like possums frozen in the headlights.

It's a $40 million project that will deliver 150 affordable homes to market for less than $400,000 each, including the land.

Clients are crying out for the product, but what I refer to as two star-gazing planners just seem overwhelmed, and the project continues to sit in limbo. The planners' strategy seems to be to go slow with the hope the project will eventually disappear.

How unjust is that on society? Affordable new homes being kept out of the market on the whim of a planner. All the while, holding costs are pushing up prices by the day, and the clients remain unhoused in motels and cars.

Another example is a transitional housing project, with a perfect site and location and the need overwhelming.

This time, the neighbours got a bit jittery, politicians circled, didn't like the heat, and the project was canned, resulting in more motel rooms booked.

God only knows what all this is costing the taxpayer. This is the crazy disconnected world the RMA creates.

If they asked me, I would remove all smaller residential projects from the RMA as it is no longer fit for purpose, and the planning process too subjective. The process often gets highjacked by neighbours, anti-commercial practices, personal agendas and nimbism.

More standardisation of design and modular building needs to be increased, and the consumer conditioned to not expect a bespoke home if they want affordability and value.

Building companies create the expectation that you can have your home any way you want. However, if the consumer realised that building bespoke added at least 25% to the cost of their home, they may view things very differently.

This is even more important now where people will be cutting their cloth accordingly, and looking for homes within their means that deliver efficiency on all fronts.

The social and health costs from not getting more affordable housing into the market far outweigh the cost of providing good housing. All these people forced to live in motels, cars and caravans need a stable, warm place to call home.

Is the RMA helping?

Although well-intentioned, the RMA has morphed into a major stumbling block. Currently it is project-specific and has no cognisance as to what the community actually needs to house its people, or what its impacts are on the financial viability of a project.

It is heavily weighted against the party wanting to commence a new project. The applicant is made to feel guilty until they can prove themselves innocent.

The surrounding homes seem to have an inordinate amount of say, and councils often pander to spurious objections.

It's a cost-plus model, with the first person purchasing paying the bill for infrastructure, GST and all manner of other local authority fees.

The RMA, along with the 70-disjointed individual council district schemes, is an unsustainable model.

What about the Building Act?

In addition to issues caused by the RMA, since the introduction of The Building Act 2004, construction costs have soared, and productivity has plummeted.

Why? Considerable administrative process has cumulatively been forced into place, but it is adding very little material value.

Risk-averse behaviour has turned once helpful local authorities into gun-shy, chicken-little organisations slowing construction down, and demanding consumer money be spent to absolve themselves of liability.

The construction industry currently works at the speed that the controlling local authority can issue and administer consent — and that impacts significantly on productivity and costs.

Some local authorities are brilliant while others are woeful. I have heard in some locations you can wait as long as 21 days for an inspection. How can anyone be expected to be productive or work within constraints like that?

In the past 15 years the cost of building has increased 110%, while the general cost of living has increased only 44%. Much of this extra cost is the result of compounding regulatory change, council fees and unfairly imposed infrastructure cost.

Many good operators have been worn down by the incessant regulatory creep and the growing army of Clipboard Charlies. They are exiting and taking much needed skills away from the industry.

We need strong leadership, meaningful change and a complete overhaul of the RMA, The Building Act and The Local Government Act so that the drivers and outcomes result in efficient, affordable and sustainable housing.

Change will only happen through collaboration between industry and policy makers, but there must be a catalyst for change. I believe we have reached that tipping point.

One would also hope housing can be depoliticised, and an across-party accord could be reached.

It is too important an issue to be used as a political football. Recent events have opened the gates of pragmatism, and we should take this opportunity to improve things for the industry.

A full review of the governing acts should be undertaken, and if regulation doesn't help the delivery of affordable healthy housing or make the industry more productive, then the time has come to ditch it.

• Mike Fox is EasyBuild director and Building Today, columnist.
• First published in Building Today. Republished with permission.
• The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of CathNews.

Having lived in emergency housing for two years, Shelly Clarke needed a rental property in Auckland to be close to the medical community for her son Jethro, who has a rare genetic condition.

Late last year, Trevdeich met Clarke to discuss renting the Auckland house.

"We have lived in six houses in seven years," Clarke says.

"Not being able to come up with a home for your family is a terrifying position."

The Salvation Army says comparing Christmas 2018 with Christmas 2019, it expects an extra 600 people to be in its housing this Christmas.

1187 people were in its centres on Christmas Eve in 2018, said their national director of community ministries, Jono Bell.

He said the Army had predicted the rise by looking at the number of people continuing to live on the streets, in a car or in motels.

"For most of us, Christmas is a time of joy and celebration, but for many others, it is another day without food or shelter and can be filled with stress and loneliness," Bell said.

Bell said the Salvation Army is offering wraparound support to all who spend time in their facilities at Christmas.

"Throughout the year we help thousands of people with emergency food and housing, as well as budgeting sessions, social work and counselling.

"Christmas is a particularly tough time for many people who struggle without enough food or shelter, let alone gifts under the tree."

• The Salvation Army supports around 16,000 people or 5000 families at Christmas.
• We provide over 1800 people with transitional housing during the Christmas season.
• Almost 16,000 clients receive Christmas gifts.
• Almost 15,000 receive Christmas hampers to help them put on Christmas dinner.
• Between December and January, we provide almost 10,500 social work sessions to families and individuals.

Sources

• Stuff
• Salvation Army

The group, which Thursday released its recommendation for a CGT to be applied on assets such as land, shares, investment properties, business assets and intellectual property.

Any gains on the sale of these assets would be added to the seller's overall yearly income and be taxed normally at realisation - meaning a CGT would only take effect when it becomes law. Continue reading

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• Capital Gains Tax will hit older Kiwis with savings the hardest

Driving around her hometown of Alexandria, Va., on a bright and sunny morning last week, McIlvaine slowed the car at white spire after white spire.

She turned her head, cocked an eyebrow and scrutinized each red-brick square on its grassy plot.

"I sort of go past everything and say, ‘That could be affordable housing,' " McIlvaine said.

"I go past a Scottish Rite temple and say, ‘Do they really need all that land?' Once you start looking, you can't stop — there are opportunities everywhere."

Over the past five years, McIlvaine has proved her own maxim.

In her work for the city of Alexandria, where she serves as director of housing, she has shepherded four churches through selling or leasing all or part of their land and converting it to space for affordable housing.

At least two more churches are "in the pipeline," McIlvaine said.

And it's not just Alexandria.

Churches across the District, Maryland and Virginia are turning their properties into living space for low-income residents.

David Bowers, vice president of the nonprofit Enterprise Community Partners, said his organization has helped seven houses of worship in the Baltimore-Washington corridor do this in the past 12 years.

Enterprise is working with roughly two dozen more churches.

Bowers said the Mid-Atlantic region has become a national leader in this arena, pioneering a faith-based solution to the dearth of affordable housing that advocates across the country are beginning to imitate.

He and others at Enterprise, which formed its Faith-Based Development Initiative specifically to encourage this tactic in 2006, hope to bring the strategy to major cities across the nation.

Proponents say churches are ideally suited to build affordable housing.

Houses of worship often sit on valuable land but are less concerned with cutting the best deal possible, thus minimizing costs borne by nonprofit developers.

And, for churches faced with shrinking congregations and underutilized buildings, installing affordable units offers a fresh infusion of cash and a better way to serve the community, backers say.

"In Matthew 25, we are called to feed the hungry, clothe the naked," the Rev. Sam Marullo, a former professor at the District's Wesley Theological Seminary, said at a forum on faith and affordable housing in the District last month.

"I would add into that Matthew 25 quote, ‘Build housing for those that need housing.' "

When McIlvaine walked through the door of Alexandria's Office of Housing in 2006, no one there was thinking about churches.

But she couldn't get them off her mind. Continue reading