Govt hopes for landlords' help in ending emergency housing

The coalition government is hoping landlords will come to its aid as it strives to end emergency housing, but one of National's campaign promises in this area is now in doubt.

It launched its promised overhaul on Wednesday but says more radical action will be required.

Ministers want to move people out of motels and into stable housing, including private rentals.

To encourage that outcome, they plan to increase the scrutiny of applicants to ensure they've explored all other options and will make life easier for landlords by bringing back 90-day no-cause evictions.

During the election, however, National campaigned on going further - promising to set up a $50 million social bond scheme where landlords or housing providers would be paid by the government to get families out of emergency housing and keep them out.

Speaking to reporters, Housing Minister Chris Bishop said that idea was still being explored but would not commit to following through.

In response to further questions from RNZ, a spokesperson confirmed such a fund was now just a "potential" outcome.

"Decisions around funding have yet to be made."

Speaking to RNZ's Morning Report on Thursday, Bishop described the social bond system for landlords as an example of the "radical and bold action" that could be used to reduce emergency housing numbers.

It was a tough policy problem to solve, he said.

"What we're doing with the social bonds is saying: is there a situation where we could go out as a government and actually contract for a better result and pay on performance?"

A group of landlords or community housing providers working with private landlords could work together to place, for example, 500 families who were in emergency housing and find them new homes or social housing.

They would also try and ensure they remained as tenants and would receive payments.

"We're just having a look at that right now, the work is under way."

He agreed the government would need to build more social housing beyond 2025, however, he was not prepared to get ahead of Budget discussions.

A 'bizarre' idea

Property Investors Federation president Sue Harrison said landlords would be open to renting to families living in emergency accommodation if the government reintroduced 90-day no-cause evictions.

Landlords were currently reluctant to take on emergency housing tenants because they could damage property, miss rent payments or disturb neighbours, she said.

"It is extremely difficult and stressful... for property investors to take on tenants with risk.

"If someone has come from an emergency housing situation, you tend to see them as a social housing prospect.

"We often do want to give those people a go... taking some of the risk away will definitely incentivise them into properties."

Harrison said landlords were keen to be part of the discussion about any social bonding scheme: "It could definitely work".

But Manawatū Tenants Union co-ordinator Cam Jenkins said many of the people in emergency housing were only there because they had been evicted by landlords.

"A lot of people I see through my office who are in that space have been given a 90-day notice for repairs and maintenance and haven't been able to find somewhere else to ask to live. So they're naturally having to go down emergency accommodation.

"So I think to go back and say 'we're going to use private landlords to bridge the gap' is really bizarre, because they were already in private rentals."

Jenkins said the government's proposals would further erode renters' rights and he did not think the focus on shifting people from emergency motels to private rentals would work.

"I don't see it solving anything to do with our housing problems.

"Unless we're adding to the supply, all we're doing is just moving the chairs around. If you think of it like a classroom where you've got houses or chairs, we're just moving the chairs around, we're not actually bringing more chairs on board, or into the room."

Housing provider supportive

Henrietta Cassidy who is a service manager at a Waikato-based housing support provider, Mātauranga Ake, said the government's plan was a good move.

She was pleased the government was focusing on the needs of tamariki and she was keen for her organisation to be involved.

The government would need to come together to work closely with groups already involved in the sector, she told Morning Report.

"It's about early intervention. We need to do that; we need to catch our families before they end up in this situation in the first place."

Cassidy was supportive of the government taking a tougher approach and said whānau needed to set some expectations of themselves, including, for example, aiming for home ownership.

She also wanted some Māori whenua (land) freed up to provide more housing.

Cassidy said she was working with large families (of up to 13 members) in emergency housing and they were being split up in different motel units which was unfortunate.

While MSD was being put under scrutiny, "no one is holding our moteliers to account," Cassidy said.

"They're sitting there and actually reaping rewards off our vulnerable communities and I don't agree with that."

They should be required to invest some of their income into housing organisations, she said.

Youth worker Aaron Hendry agreed the emergency housing system must change but was not convinced the coalition government's approach will work.

"The reality is that those environments are unsafe and often people in those environments are being harmed...so it's really important that we do everything we can to move them through that system and get them into a much safer and more supportive housing as quickly as we can.

"We already know that there are a lot of barriers to accessing emergency accommodation for people and the experience from people who really do need it is that when they reach out for support, often they can't get it. It's hugely demoralising and can be really dehumanising, the process.

"In some cases, people are walking in for support and are being turned away and staying on the streets or staying in really unsafe environments."