Media Release - Housing Summit

On the first day of winter, the Housing Summit follow-up meeting is calling on the government to act immediately to ease the rental housing shortage in Christchurch and calling on national and local agencies to support a 100 day housing plan.

"The purpose of today's meeting was to follow-up on the May 9th Housing Summit, to see what rental providers have done since to provide further rental accommodation in Christchurch", says summit organiser, cr. Glenn Livingstone.

Following discussion, action points agreed to by the summit were:

* A 100 day, fully integrated housing plan for Christchurch, with national and local housing providers participating and resourcing it. "We have had a temporary rugby stadium put in place in 100 days", says Cr. Livingstone, himself a rugby fan. "We also have a 100 day CBD plan. But we also need a 100 day housing plan. Today is day one of that plan. We'll be inviting providers and all those with a stake in the habitability, accessibility and affordability of housing in Christchurch to take part in it".

* A call to the government to extend the red-zone deadline, so enabling an extension for residents by application.

* A call to Housing New Zealand to have a more visible presence in Christchurch. While there is an HNZ outlet in Restell Street, Papanui, it is not clear that this is a Housing New Zealand Office. The new telephone system is unreliable and, while a web-site is available for enquiries, not everyone has access to a computer.

* A call to the Christchurch City Council to resource a rental data register, as used by the Hurunui District Council.

Attendees at the summit heard how Housing New Zealand is currently repairing 212 houses, with the first coming on line in the next few weeks. Housing New Zealand is investigating new houses at present, with an earlier demand priority waiting list of 366, dropping to 241. While most red zoned HNZ tenants have been moved and there are only a few left to be relocated, telephone accessibility remains a problem.

The Christchurch City Council is currently looking at the immediate provision of temporary rental accommodation, along with a decision at next Thursday's Council meeting on permanent housing options, according to City Councillor Peter Beck. "We need the city council, CERA , housing NZ , and other agencies to be working together and listening to the concerns and solutions which those at the sharp end are suggesting. As well as action for the medium and long term, there is an immediate need now to deal with the emerging crisis", Cr. Beck says.

A CERA spokesperson said that in the recovery strategy released yesterday, one of the 26 recovery plans is housing recovery, undertaken by working in conjunction with existing housing providers.

The Summit was reminded that housing is a human right and part of the universal declaration of human rights. New Zealand is a drafting party and signatory to that right. In being a signatory to this declaration, New Zealand has an obligation to look for solutions to housing problems at all times.

The action points in full are:

* A Summit steering group is embarking on a 100 day, fully integrated housing plan for Christchurch and is calling on national and local housing providers to participate and resource it.

* A call to the government to extend the red-zone deadline, so enabling an extension for residents by application. This would enable people who are building and needing more time to complete their new home the opportunity to make that transition seamlessly, keeping them out of the rental market for as short a time as possible.

This would further enable those who still need information from their insurance company and the government to make an informed and unpressured choice over their future housing options.

This call is based on manifold grounds, including the need to support those who are struggling to make the decision to move, concerns about the health conditions of those remaining and the realisation that a generic time extension for red-zone residents would in fact hold up the recovery.

* A call to Housing New Zealand to have a more visible presence in Christchurch. While there is an HNZ outlet in Restell Street, Papanui, it is not clear that this is a Housing New Zealand Office. The new telephone system is unreliable and, while a web-site is available for enquiries, not everyone has access to a computer.

* A call to the Christchurch City Council to resource a rental data register, as used by the Hurunui District Council.

ENDS

For Red Zone residents:

www.canterburyaffordablesections.org.nz

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