Stop the Transaction Mandate Bill

The Social Housing Reform (Transaction Mandate) Bill is silently passing through its third reading in parliament. Its consequences, however, will not be silent.

The Social Housing Reform (Transaction Mandate) Bill gives the Minister of Social Housing and the Minister responsible for Housing NZ the unprecidented power to sell or transfer state housing without consulting with Housing New Zealand and without complying with HNZC social objectives. This could have the consequence of a lack of public knowledge of housing being sold and a removal of social obligations to house those in need.

The transferring of housing and the dismantlement of Housing New Zealand is a consequence of the Social Housing Reforms which is aiming to transfer state houses to community housing providers. This policy is a failure, the private market has never been successful in providing healthy and affordable housing for low-income families.

Although the bill is set to target Invercargill and Tauranga, this policy has already been in affect in Glen Innes where 2,800 houses are being transferred to a company.

The transfer of housing in Tāmaki is sold to the affected communities as a process of revitalisation of the disinvested communities, however in the process of demolishing state housing and replacing it with mixed tenure housing, tenants are being displaced in order for highly priced private dwellings to be built.

The Tāmaki Housing Group believe that this is a process of state-led gentrification and privatisation. The government are providing valuable land to private developers to profit from at the cost of solving the housing crisis for those it most impacts - state tenants and low-income renters.

This is a process of mass privatisation, and it must be resisted. The Tāmaki Housing Group and their supporters wish to oppose this bill and the consequences it may have on state housing tenants and communities. This bill should not proceed through parliament.

ENDS

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