The short answer is yes.
This article was first published in Touchstone in March 2019.
The Government references the housing crisis in “A Stocktake of New Zealand’s Housing – February 2018”[1] when they state they are committed to fixing the housing crisis. Hon. Phil Twyford states in the forward, “All New Zealanders deserve to have a secure and healthy home. That is the foundation which allows us all to build happy and successful lives.”
What does the housing crisis mean?
Our home ownership rate has declined and is at the lowest level in 60 years and house prices have risen 30% in the past five years. This means that it is harder for first home buyers to enter the market and rents have risen faster than incomes. There is a lack of housing too with Auckland having a shortfall of between 28,000 and 45,000 dwellings. The number of state houses has reduced and many families are renting from the private sector at unaffordable rents. Māori and Pacific people have been disproportionately affected by the housing crisis with greater housing instability and an increase in those living in poor quality housing.
Families are often sleeping in cars, garages or living in overcrowded homes. We have high rates of youth homelessness.
What are Methodists doing to address the housing crisis?
Lifewise in Auckland, and the Christchurch Methodist Mission in Christchurch are providing Housing First. The goal of Housing First is to end homelessness. The priority is to provide people with appropriate housing and wrap around services to support their tenancy. Housing First works with the chronically homeless person by providing them with accommodation and then services to address their issues like mental health and substance abuse. It is based on the belief that people need their basic necessities of food and shelter before they can address any other issues.
Housing First is also in Tauranga, and Hamilton, and is soon expanding to Napier, Hastings, Whangarei, Northland, Blenheim & Nelson. Developing a stock of safe affordable housing is the key to success of Housing First and to move towards ending homelessness.
The Auckland, Wellington & Christchurch Methodist Missions are community housing providers. They provide a range of public housing including emergency housing, affordable rentals, and wrap around services to support the tenancies.
What can your parish do to address the housing crisis?
Contact your local Methodist Mission and see what they need to support the accommodation services they provide.
If your parish has a house that is not currently used, you could lease it to your local Methodist Mission to use for community housing. This would mean that you would have a tenancy agreement with your local Mission – not the tenant. It means your parish has a guaranteed income from the rental paid by the Mission. The Methodist Mission would then sublease the house to a family, manage the tenancy, and provide wrap around services to support and maintain the tenancy. The parish does not have direct contact with the tenants. The Mission receives income related rent subsidies from the government which makes up the difference between market rent and what the tenant can afford to pay in rent.
An example of this is the Christchurch North Methodist Parish which rents its parsonage to the Christchurch Methodist Mission. The parish gets a guaranteed income with the rental paid by the Mission. The Mission then subleases the parsonage to a family from the social housing register. The Mission provides the tenants with a range of wrap around support services to meet the family’s needs and supports them in the tenancy.
If your parish has unused land you could consider developing the land to provide housing. Airedale Property Trust can provide advice on residential or commercial tenancies, refurbishment, development and construction. They are an accredited social housing provider and work with New Zealand’s most vulnerable people.
Airedale has partnered with parishes, ethnic synods and organisations to find the best way to serve their community by developing under-utilised land to meet the growing need for affordable housing for families and communities. They have experience in designing and developing accessible accommodation for the disabled and elderly. There are standard designs that can be used, and they can manage the consent and construction process for you.
Airedale can also work with the government and MCNZ to secure funding options to help with the costs of development and construction projects. To find out more, check out their website: https://airedaleproperty.org.nz/
Finding the time and energy in your parish to start a new initiative or project can be overwhelming however, help is out there – talk with your local Methodist Mission, Airedale Property Trust, or contact me to discuss the many opportunities.
Two bedroom units at Matanikolo Stage 2 Development.
Carol Barron, Methodist Alliance National Coordinator, carol@methodistalliance.org.nz
[1] https://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2018-02/A%20Stocktake%20Of%20New%20Zealand%27s%20Housing.pdf
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