Thursday news in brief

Build more affordable housing – Wellington Taskforce

If Wellington wants to avoid Auckland’s housing problems the Council will have to get into building on a big scale, according to a new report from Wellington’s Mayoral Housing Taskforce.

Wellington Deputy Mayor Paul Eagle, who led the Taskforce, said the report creates a comprehensive plan for the way forward. “Housing is a complex issue, and there is no one thing we can do to solve everything. We need to be pulling on every lever and be brave enough to try new things.”

One of the report’s main recommendations is that the Council needs to directly build thousands of new social and affordable houses, rather than leaving it to the market.

Other recommendations include incentives to encourage development; reform of the Council’s processes to make building homes easier; development of a closer working relationship between central and local government; and introduction of guidelines to improve quality of housing.

Read more: Inner city apartment initiative for Capital 

State houses for sale in Christchurch

A new round of state house sales in Christchurch has moved forward with three Community Housing Providers (CHPs) invited to present formal takeover proposals.

Up to 2500 Housing New Zealand properties, centred in the suburbs of Shirley, Bryndwr and Riccarton, are currently up for transfer as part of the government’s controversial social housing reform programme.

The three short-listed CHPs, which are all consortiums, are Community Futures Christchurch, Ōtautahi Community Housing Consortium, and another made up of Compass Housing Services Co Limited, AMP Capital Investors Limited, and Brookfield Financial Australia Securities Limited.

Social Housing Minister Amy Adams said that while ownership of the properties might change, the properties will remain as social houses, just as they are now. “They won’t be able to be sold off and must continue to be used as social housing. Current tenants will remain in their homes.”

Read more: Partnerships needed in social housing 

Boost landlords’ rights in fight against meth

Meth contamination of a Blenheim couple’s rental property left them verging on bankruptcy and campaigning for greater powers for landlords in the fight against meth.

Jamie and Tasha McCracken want landlords who discover meth being used or manufactured in their rentals to be able to evict tenants quickly and for those responsible for meth contamination to be prosecuted.

They have set up a Facebook page – “Landlords NZ P Contamination law change” – and want to hear from fellow landlords. But they have not ruled out further action for change.

However, police sources indicated that a positive meth test was not enough to link a tenant to the use of meth in a property. While it could be useful, it would not be enough to arrest someone.

Read more: New meth decontamination levels revealed

Changing rental property type preferences

Twenty years ago, nearly half of Auckland’s rental market housing stock was standard three-bedroom homes – but a new Barfoot & Thompson bond analysis shows that has now changed drastically.

In the first quarter of 2017, 35% of all bonds lodged were for three-bedroom homes, compared with 46% in the same period of 1997. This equates to a 24% reduction in the proportion of three-bedroom homes.

Over the same period, the proportion of one-bedroom property tenancies increased by 85% and now represents almost a quarter of all rental properties. The proportion of four/five plus-bedroom property tenancies increased by 300%.

Barfoot & Thompson director Kiri Barfoot said Auckland’s housing needs have changed with the key drivers being changing family structures and evolving attitudes to lifestyles. “Combined with this shift in what renters need and want, the housing stock itself has been evolving.”

Read more: Auckland rental market under pressure