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Mike's Editorial: The State Housing Debate

Author
Mike Hosking,
Publish Date
Tue, 17 Feb 2015, 7:28AM
(Photo: Edward Swift)
(Photo: Edward Swift)

Mike's Editorial: The State Housing Debate

Author
Mike Hosking,
Publish Date
Tue, 17 Feb 2015, 7:28AM

The Bays Community Housing Trust entered the state house sale debate yesterday by telling the Government at their first briefing on the matter that they’d be interested in buying the houses but only if they were free.

Given they’re not going to be, this is where the Government might start to have trouble.

The Government’s move on state house sales makes perfect sense. 

Governments have never been able to provide enough houses. 

The queue has always got longer and there have always been mismatches between what people want housing-wise and what stock is actually available. 

To think a Government department i.e. Housing NZ is a one stop shop for social housing needs has always been mad and lacked an obvious flexibility required to provide more and better services 

So the Government flicks a few thousand homes to service providers, they do a better job; they’re closer to the actual people needing the help. 

If you’re one of those people as long as you get the help who cares who’s providing it. 

All of this of course is predicated on the agencies actually buying in and clearly the aforementioned trust isn't. 

Now some of that I suspect will be politics, some of these agencies will have a political agenda and it won’t be in line with a centre-right Government. 

So they’ll be looking to make a point or score some points and just be out to plain make life difficult. 

But here’s the bit that gets interesting. 

What’s clever about the Government move is that these social agencies are the ones who so often criticise any given Government for lack of action of various social needs.

Not least of which is the Salvation Army 

Just the other day in their state of the nation report, the most glaring issue they claimed was lack of social housing. 

Well if the Government’s offering an “in” for these agencies to participate, It’s not going to be long before they’re either part of the solution or they’re going to be told to stop moaning. 

You can only lay blame if you’re locked out of the answer. 

When you've been provided with the golden opportunity to make a difference you either jump in boots and all or you zip it on the criticism front.

The Government may well have to run this line, but equally important in the process is buy-in

The Government needs buy-in. No point coming up with the plan if those who are supposed to part of it run for the hills.

There’s always a “who blinks first “part to these deals.

The Government got out of the convention centre mess by simply playing hard ball and stopping the money tap.

It might be a bit harder on the housing front if all the people they’re looking to sell the houses to don’t buy them.

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