spinofflive
Photo: Supplied, additional design by Tina Tiller
Photo: Supplied, additional design by Tina Tiller

SocietyFebruary 21, 2022

Community housing providers call on government to turn up supply

Guest writer
Photo: Supplied, additional design by Tina Tiller
Photo: Supplied, additional design by Tina Tiller

The government is investing more into housing than ever, but experts say what will make the difference is not how much, but where it’s being spent.  

“They are serving the country, they are deemed as frontline, they are doing a really good job and yet their salaries are so low they are being forced into transitional housing.”

That’s Bernie Smith, chief executive of the community housing provider Monte Cecilia Housing Trust. Smith says he’s been shocked to see that even those working in essential civil service roles, such as teachers, nurses and police, have been coming to his organisation for support.

“Two or three years ago families were surviving, living week to week. They weren’t going on holiday, they weren’t doing anything fancy, but they could afford to pay their rent.”

He believes those same families are now being forced into homelessness by “even a $10 increase in rents”, due to the rapidly rising cost of living. 

“Some of them are getting into emergency motels, some are getting into transitional housing, and some of them are just waiting. And we’ve never had a wait list like this in our 39-year history.”

That list is up to 400 families hoping for a place in one of the trust’s 600 transitional and social housing properties. And there are now more than 25,000 families on the government’s own waiting list for Kāinga Ora homes, with 4,700 of those currently living in emergency accommodation.

Monte Cecilia Housing Trust’s Bernie Smith, Penina Trust’s Roine Lealaiauloto and Community Housing Aotearoa’s Vic Crockford (Photos: Supplied)

With such spiralling numbers, it’s no surprise The Salvation Army’s latest State of the Nation report describes the current housing situation as “more than a crisis, it’s a catastrophe”.

But housing minister Megan Woods says the issues are neither new nor being ignored. She says the previous government’s waiting list didn’t reflect the actual needs in the community, while her government has doubled its spending on income-related rent subsidies and operational grants to community housing providers (CHPs).  

“We are under no illusions, there is no quick fix to this housing crisis,” she says. 

“We’ve added over 9,000 houses since we’ve been in government and I think you can see that this is a massive tanker being turned around. We will have built 18,000 public houses by 2024 and that will be a record number of houses in a generation, but will that be enough? No, we’ll have to keep going.” 

But those in the community housing provider sector say the government is actually making things harder for organisations such as theirs to build more houses. 

“The previous government had a capital grants scheme where a new development by a community housing provider saw 50% of that cost forwarded to them to get the project off the ground,” Smith says. “That assisted CHPs to build homes and we built 23 homes that way, and now they are mortgage free and we’d love to leverage that, but we don’t have the cash in the bank to do more.”

Penina Trust has more than 100 social and transitional dwellings across South Auckland and is New Zealand’s first Pacific community housing provider. Its chief executive Roine Lealaiauloto shares Smith’s concerns, adding that a fast-track consenting process would be a welcome policy shift. 

“Certainly upfront funding has worked in the past,” she says. “But the red tape is the real issue. If they could make it faster to get through all the hurdles and bureaucracy we would have more housing supply.”

Community Housing Aotearoa chief executive Vic Crockford says another way the government could provide support is through underwriting developments.

“While community housing providers are getting houses built, a lack of access to upfront capital has become a significant constraining factor,” she says.

“We’ve suggested a government underwrite – or guarantee – for community housing providers. This would help de-risk the process of securing finance for the provider and lower the cost of borrowing. This could also unlock more impact investment opportunities for the sector.”

Housing minister Megan Woods and National Party deputy leader and housing spokesperson Nicola Willis (Photos: Supplied)

National’s housing spokesperson and deputy leader Nicola Willis says the community housing sector has a big role to play and says if re-elected, National would reinstate the capital grants scheme. 

“Since coming to office Labour has starved the community housing sector of the capital funding it so desperately needs. National would support a policy to provide capital grants funding to community housing providers.”

While the government did end National’s capital grants scheme, it has introduced a similar policy where CHPs can apply for operational grants to be paid upfront to use for development projects. Woods also points out that the previous government actually reduced the number of public houses overall by 1,500 over its three terms, saying her government is committed to reversing that trend as well as supporting the community sector. 

“We are pulling every lever we can to bring on more houses, whether they be emergency, transitional, state houses, affordable rentals or opportunities for first home ownership. This is the first time in decades a government has had an integrated approach to housing and the first time we’ve had a minister of housing.”

More Reading

But Lealaiauloto says the government has to start “trusting us more” if it really wants to turn up the supply of new housing.

“We understand the government wants to bring things in-house, and maybe there’s an aversion to private sector ownership, but it’s important for the government to understand that we’re all in this together.

“We’re not driven by profit, we’re driven by community need, so it’s important they understand they need to be making it easier for providers. As we’re not only just building homes, we’re building lives.”

Keep going!
Image: Tina Tiller
Image: Tina Tiller

SocietyFebruary 21, 2022

The rising price of groceries and the human cost of food insecurity

Contributing writer
Image: Tina Tiller
Image: Tina Tiller

As food prices experience the highest annual increase in 10 years, it’s our most vulnerable who are suffering the most. Felix Walton looks at the causes, and what can be done.

You’ve probably noticed that your shopping bill is a bit higher than this time last year. 

Stats NZ recently reported a 2.8% price rise across the entire supermarket catalogue. It’s the highest monthly rise in five years, and a result of the steepest year-long price increase since 2011.

“It’s not unexpected,” says AUT nutrition professor Elaine Rush, “and it’s been coming for a long time.” The combination of high rates of inflation, alongside a gradually tightening shortage of food around the world, means higher prices were almost inevitable.

“We have climate change, with floods and droughts,” she says. “That really impacts our ability to produce food.”

AUT nutrition professor Elaine Rush (Photo: Supplied)

For most of us it means a higher bill, but for some it means living on empty stomachs.

“Food bank services are really stretched, and it’s getting worse,” says Rush. “As the price continues to go up, food banks are able to buy less and less.

“It either means they can feed less people, or that there’s less food between them.”

The Salvation Army, one of New Zealand’s largest food assistance providers, allocated 79,000 food parcels and vouchers last year. “Higher food prices are part of the overall increase in living costs people on lower incomes are facing,” says Paul Barber, a senior policy analyst The Salvation Army. “Beneficiary households faced 18.2% increases in living costs from December 2014 to December 2021.”

This is compared to a 13% increase across households with higher incomes. The sharpest cost increases were experienced by those least equipped to meet them.

“There are so many factors that go into it,” notes Rush. “There’s time poverty, meaning you don’t have enough time to prepare the food. Or a lack of education or equipment to prepare it.

“Food insecurity means there are days when you might go without food entirely.”

Paul Barber, senior policy analyst at The Salvation Army (Photo: Supplied)

Even getting to the supermarket can be a challenge, especially without a car. “If you have a large family, the amount of vegetables you could be wanting to take home is pushing 20 or 30 kilograms,” says Rush, referring to the government’s suggestion that everyone eat at least five servings of veggies daily.

“Most governments put out dietary guidelines like 5+ A Day, but we’re not able to follow them,” she says. “The food supply policies just don’t back up what the evidence says we should be doing.”

While time and access are significant issues, the largest barrier is, unsurprisingly, cost. Stats NZ notes that the biggest contributors to this month’s price increase were fruits and vegetables. Larger price tags for foods like broccoli, lettuce and apples pushed plant foods up by 9.9%, a staggering increase best evidenced by tomatoes, which sit at $7.29 per kilogram compared to $2.94 last January.

Next was meat and poultry, whose prices rose by 3.6%. Meanwhile, confectionery and snack foods barely made a dent.

“A good diet costs a lot,” says Rush. “[Junk foods] have a long shelf life, so supply problems aren’t nearly as severe.”

It makes sense that health isn’t the highest priority for people just trying to get by. “Most of the world is malnourished,” she says. “That’s not just a lack of vitamins and minerals, but also obesity.

“It’s an imbalance in food supply and access to it.”

As for a practical short-term solution, Bush suggests turning to long-life alternatives. “Tinned, canned, frozen and dried food are really good nourishment,” she says. “Milk powder works out cheaper and stores better, but a lot of the appreciation of dried foods is lost.”

While not the most exciting alternative, long-life products make a lot of sense for people trying to get the most out of their money. Especially for those trapped in isolation for extended periods.

Ultimately, though, a more fundamental solution is necessary.

“Unless we practise prevention, which includes feeding people well, our health system is going to be overwhelmed,” says Rush. “We have all these people with non-communicable diseases: cardiovascular disease, some cancers, diabetes, strokes, which could’ve been prevented if they were fed better.”

“I think the whole food system needs a complete makeover.”

But, Rush clarifies, that makeover can’t be at the expense of food industry workers. “Many of the workers in the food industry are the same ones whose families are suffering from food insecurity,” she points out.

Instead, the solution lies in addressing supply issues and forming a real strategy to make food more accessible. One suggestion from Rush is a market garden renaissance. “Every city should have market gardens close by that are able to supply that city,” she says. “That’s how cities and towns evolved.”

Right now, Rush feels that too much of our food policy relies on charity. “Food banks do a wonderful job,” she says. “But it’s a blight on our landscape that we need to have food delivered by charities.

“We should be working towards everyone being able to afford and follow our dietary guidelines.”

Society