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Lawyer says Rotorua s emergency housing breaches council s district plan
29 Apr, 2021 06:00 PM
7 minutes to read
Rotorua barrister Kevin Badcock. Photo / Kelly Makiha
Putting people in emergency housing for longer than 28 days in some Rotorua motels is breaching the city s district plan, a Rotorua barrister says. Rotorua MP Todd McClay said the lawyer s legal opinion showed the Government was trying to sweep Rotorua s homeless problem under the rug.
Rotorua Lakes Council admitted it was aware of the problem - pointing out it was not just an issue for Rotorua - but said it would not change the district plan. The council said it was working with Government agencies and ministers on a solution.
Rent controls usually involve either placing a cap on the rent that could be charged or on the extent to which rent could increase throughout a tenancy and, to be effective, they are usually paired with restrictions on eviction. Written by NZ Initiative senior fellow Dr David Law, the paper said that rent controls were an intervention that 95 per cent of top economists agreed would harm the supply and quality of rental accommodation. That was because international economic research showed the potential negative consequences of keeping rents below market rates.
ROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff One consequence was landlords selling their rental properties to owner-occupiers, which reduced rental supply.
Editorial: Emergency housing a million-dollar-a-day disaster
28 Apr, 2021 05:00 PM
4 minutes to read
Greens co-leader Marama Davidson says the cost of emergency housing to ratepayers is hefty and unacceptable but so too is the cumulative harm. Photo / Mark Mitchell, File
Greens co-leader Marama Davidson says the cost of emergency housing to ratepayers is hefty and unacceptable but so too is the cumulative harm. Photo / Mark Mitchell, File
NZ Herald
EDITORIAL
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson was both right and wrong to blast current emergency housing provisions as inhumane this week. She was in the wrong, as her position as Associate Minister of Housing has
A Capital Letter: Wellington council social housing arm will be insolvent by 2023
27 Apr, 2021 05:00 PM
5 minutes to read
Wellington City. Photo / Mark Mitchell
OPINION:
Senior Wellington journalist Georgina Campbell s fortnightly column looks closely at issues in the capital. Wellington City Council s social housing arm will be insolvent by June 2023 if nothing changes- a reality that calls into question whether the council should be a provider at all.
The council has 1927 properties across the city, housing about 3500 tenants. It is one of the largest social housing providers in New Zealand and it s in trouble.
City Housing s annual operating deficit is forecast to be $8.7 million in the first year of the council s draft Long Term Plan and is set to increase further over the ensuing decade.