AFFORDABLE housing for Wellington seniors could be under threat if local government reforms go ahead.
Wellington City Council admits it may not be able to honour the Positive Aging Policy it adopted last week under new local government structures.
Critics say the quality of housing would be at risk or could remove it entirely in a possible revamp of Wellington councils.
Council changes are being driven by the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill being considered by Parliament.
The city has no idea what impact changes will have on the social housing which is undergoing $220 million of government-funded upgrading, says Wellington City Councillor and social portfolio leader Stephanie Cook.
However the council raised the issue in its submission on the bill and has had no response.
“The short answer is we just don’t know what is going to happen with Wellington housing,” Ms Cook says.
About 270 of the 2200 council housing units are tenanted by seniors.
Jocelyn Frances, of the Wellington and New Zealand Councils of Social Services, sent a submission to the council opposing council amalgamation.
“Wellington City Council has an enlightened approach to the provision of social housing, and we know that this funding builds communities,” she says.
Each council in the region currently has different approach to housing, with some providing none at all.
Amalgamation with other local councils could mean watering down or compromising the type and level of housing provision for high priority tenants, says Ms Frances.
“At first glance, other councils don’t appear to prioritise housing in the same way Wellington does,” she says.
“If any amalgamation takes place, they have to take the time to line their values up and unless they line up, it might not work.”
The council’s submission on the The Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill also casts doubt on whether the council could continue to provide housing for seniors at all.
The council says the Bill would refocus the councils “four well-beings” to three new principles of infrastructure, public services and regulatory functions.
Changes are justified in the Bill of being “cost effective for households and businesses.”
The submission asks whether the provision of social housing, in which Wellington City Council is the second largest provider behind central government, will still be legal should the Bill proceed into law.
“Can it be a public service, when the private sector provides rental housing? Can it be a ‘local’ service when central government provides state housing?
“The purpose of meeting needs for infrastructure, services and regulatory functions ‘in a way that is most cost-effective for households and businesses’ imposes an absolute standard.
“As councils’ powers are derived from the performance of this purpose in their locality, anything which can be shown to fail to meet this standard will be illegal.”
Government called to give social housing clarity
Wellington City Councillor and housing portfolio leader, Stephanie Cook (right) says the council has had no answer about these issues.
“The question is still up in the air, and we still don’t know what type of activity the council will be able to engage in under the Bill,” she says.
“We don’t know if changes will go through, and we don’t know what they will look like.”
The lack of clarification in the Bill could pose serious problems for the council if it is passed.
“If the Government does not define the council’s roles, the public could take us to court to decide,” says Ms Cook.
“That is not democratic, and democracy is what Wellington wants. It shouldn’t be up to the courts to decide due to poor government legislation.”
The Bill doesn’t take into account that local authorities around New Zealand have different areas of interest, says Ms Cook.
Wellington is in a different position because the council is receiving $220 million dollars to upgrade and earthquake strengthen housing, a allocation made under the former Labour Government.
The contract stated that the council had to stay in social housing and was not allowed to sell their housing units in the next 30 years.
“The Government are committed to growing a third sector for [social] housing. So would it mean we would hand over our housing buildings to those companies?
“We can’t just hand them over. It would have a huge impact on the council’s assets,” says Ms Cook.
There is also concern the current quality of council housing upgrades, which have won awards, could drop and rents could be raised if the council stepped out of its housing role.
“We are already seeing a big difference in quality between government and council housing. The standard of government housing has not kept pace with the council, in fact it is sliding backwards and getting worse,” says Ms Cook.
Ms Cook believes choices regarding Wellington should be left to Wellingtonians.
“The examples of councils not working properly that are used to justify this legislation are very rare. And there are already mechanisms in place to deal with it,” she says.
“We need to be able to consult with the community about what they want. Things work perfectly fine as it is, and we shouldn’t be dictated to by central government.
The Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill is in a Select Committee process and is due to be heard at the end of the year.
