Tāmaki Tenants to hold Public Meeting to discuss Tāmaki Housing Association

Tenants in Tāmaki are holding a public meeting on Tuesday 14 June to discuss the impact that the transfer of their state homes to Tāmaki Housing Association has had on them and their families.

On April 1 this year, 2,800 state homes in Tāmaki (Glen Innes, Point England and Panmure) were transferred to the Tāmaki Redevelopment Company, and the tenancies transferred to a subsidiary Tāmaki Housing Association.

These transfers are a part of the government’s social housing reforms which involve the transfer of state housing from the public to a private social housing market, a policy which has failed internationally.

The Tāmaki area has been at the forefront of the government’s so-called “solutions” to the housing crisis which have involved the subsidised sale of public land to private developers, and the transfer of tenancy of state houses to private organisations in a bid to rid of the government’s role in providing affordable and safe housing for low-income people.

The transfers in Tāmaki are the experiment for the rest of New Zealand, and so far they have caused anxiety and uncertainty amongst tenants. Some fear market rents, some fear eviction, some fear the floating of the company's shares on the private market.

While the long-term impacts of these transfers are unknown, families in Tāmaki have already felt the impacts of the government policy.

Some families have been given notices that they can receive their bond money back from Housing New Zealand, something which could have severe impacts on families in the future. Some families have received letters telling them their house has been sold to Tāmaki Redevelopment Company.

In light of this uncertainty, Tāmaki Housing Group are holding a public meeting at the Glen Innes School Library, 6:30pm on Tuesday 14 June, to give tenants a chance to voice their concerns and get support from those in similar circumstances.

ENDS

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