More support from today to meet housing needs
More support from today to meet housing needs
Social
Development Minister Paula Bennett says people and families
in need of social housing will be better supported by the
Government’s investment of $95.7 million of new money over
the next four years.
“We want to ensure those with a genuine social housing need are in the right house, for as long as they need it. Some people may simply need some extra assistance to access housing in the private market. This will free up social housing for people that really need it,” says Mrs Bennett.
New funding of $8 million will be available to support social housing tenants whose living standards have improved to take that next step to move into private housing. This help will also be available to people on the waitlist and people who have contacted the Ministry of Social Development about a housing need.
From today, this initiative will see a range of support available to social housing applicants and tenants who, with a little help, could manage in private accommodation. This includes:
· Bond grants to make it easier to get started in private rental accommodation.
·
Assistance with the physical costs of moving.
·
A letting fees loan for non-beneficiaries (people receiving
a benefit can already get this)
· A one-off
grant to support social housing tenants who voluntarily move
into private housing.
· A loan to cover
end-of-tenancy costs not covered by a bond, so tenants can
assure landlords they are not a financial risk
·
Providing good tenants with references from their social
housing provider, that they can give to prospective
landlords.
This new assistance will be available
from 1 July 2014, and will be tested with households likely
to sustain independent housing.
“Other important sector changes incudes the recent transfer of housing assessments from Housing New Zealand to the Ministry of Social Development with new funding of $80.7 million including $16.4 million of capital funding from the Future Investment Fund.
“This investment will allow the development of new IT systems, as well as support staffing and administrative requirements,” says Mrs Bennett.
From today, the Ministry of Social Development will begin to review tenancies of social housing tenants paying market rent or near market rent.
Budget 2014 provided $7 million, including $1.8 million of capital funding from the Future Investment Fund, to ensure that Ministry of Social Development has the resources to work individually with these tenants to fully understand all of their circumstances.
“Social housing is undergoing
significant change to ensure we can support more people to
move to private rental or home ownership and free up social
housing for those people who need it for as long as they
need it,” said Mrs Bennett.
ends