Seeking reelection to a second term as Mayor of Wellingotn, Celia Wade-Brown is next up on the WCC Soapbox, outlining her housing policy. Questions or comments for her can be left below.
Affordable, warm, dry, housing is a fundamental right for Wellington residents of all ages.
The current shortage of affordable housing to rent or buy has the average house price over $500,000. More than 60,000 Wellingtonians live in rental housing with too many that are cold, damp, unhealthy and expensive to heat. A focus on building and renovating affordable housing is essential.
With a supportive Council I will advance the draft already in progress at the City Council and lead a Wellington Housing Strategy with state, community and private partnerships. Meeting the varied housing needs of diverse groups through a broad range of initiatives is integral to the strategy along with the important role of social housing and continuing to strengthen and insulate Council housing.
The refurbished Central Park and new-build Regents Park apartments are both excellent examples of modest but attractive homes that are warm and cheap to maintain.
My commitment for social housing is at least the same number of tenants as currently occupy Council properties and to continue support for the excellent community action programme while keeping rents as modest as possible.
I advocated that central government extend income-related rent subsidy to Council housing as well as HousingNZ and third sector housing.
Partnership (MOU and/or Housing Accord)
Combining aspects of HousingNZ and Council approaches so Wellington City Council’s tenant support can also cover State housing is a primary consideration. Recent legislative changes offer opportunities to update and redevelop HousingNZ properties to more modern accommodation and enable further opportunities for building for mixed-use rather than a concentration of private or public housing. The housing strategy will continue the work in progress with HousingNZ and the Housing Minister on options for Wellington.
A rent-to-buy scheme offers opportunities for Wellington’s urban re-generation, as shown in several other countries. Rentals pay off the cost of both building and principal with equity transferred from trust ownership to the renter over time. This will be in addition to Wellington’s current social housing commitments.
Third sector
Partnerships with existing providers like IHC, The Wellington Housing Trust and iwi will be expanded so there’s a wider range of housing choices. Access to land and long-term low-cost loans will enable the third sector to grow. Currently Council and HousingNZ own more than 97% of social housing.
Emergency and transitional housing
The policy continues support for the partnership approach to ending homelessness by 2020 and maintaining support for the Night Shelter and the Women’s Emergency Home and other agencies helping people to move from homelessness. A wet hostel should open within the next term.
Urban regeneration
Council will establish an urban regeneration unit to develop sites in partnership with other landowners, smarten up laneways and explore new opportunities.
It will encourage well-planned private building and office conversions, redeveloping some Council owned sites and will lead joint projects where there are multiple landowners. Student and apprentice accommodation will be supported following the examples of Weltec and Whitireia currently creating refurbished accommodation in Willis Street.
Private rental standards (Rental WOF)
Local minimum standards for insulation, ventilation and heating in private rental homes will be promoted. This policy combines forces with Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull and local MP Grant Robertson to advance a Bill to improve minimum standards as new tenancy agreements are made.
Building consents
The policy will allow for more “model solutions” that can be granted as streamlined consents, with minor variations to create good streetscape and a variety of decorative elements. Work with land-owners to enable quality pre-fabricated developments of scale in brown-field sites or residentially-zoned green-fields will simplify and speed up the process.
Upgrading private homes
The energy-saver and earthquake checks will be extended to more rental as well as owner-occupier houses. Expanding and speeding up the WarmUpNZ insulation project brings Council, EECA and DHB funding together. The Sustainability Trust’s Curtain Bank will continue to have my support.
Innovation
WikiHouse is an open-source local fabrication modular design that enables people to design their own house at a really modest cost. Working with Spacecraft Wellington will have the first open source demonstration home in the country and a real chance for sweat equity and individual input to a modest, modular design.
Wellington’s FirstLightHouse won awards as a zero net-energy option and its architects have a modified version for $300,000. This would also be a demo home that prospective purchasers could view.
Maori architects have designed modest whare structures that can be located to make a village-like setting known as Papakainga housing. Wellington can capitalise on opportunities with local marae to utilise designs like Rau Hoskins’ “nanowhare”.
Using strong, resilient laminated timber makes good use of local resources. The policy aims to maximise its use instead of so many logs being exported.
Urban limits
The urban containment strategy is working well with most of Wellington’s recent building in the central area, followed by infill along the public transport spine and some new “greenfield” sites. There is land in each of the three categories for twenty years or more of development. Maximising existing infrastructure (pipes, reservoirs, roads, bus and rail routes, community facilities and reserves) is cheaper for everybody including ratepayers. Urban limits don’t need to be extended to increase affordable housing but exploring time-limited zoning to discourage land-banking is an option.
Increased density requires Council to improve amenities and facilities so the choice of denser living improves the quality of life.
We need supportive councillors
Many currently serving and new candidates have emphasised the importance of affordable housing. Under my leadership and with councillor input, several Affordable Housing workstreams are already in development at Council. This policy is largely compatible with the direction but pushes ahead more urgently and innovatively. See here for the work agreed in May.
Hayley Robinson’s idea of 100 Homes is a good start. I congratulate her on the work so far but we need to be more ambitious to address the gap.
Central government and other Councils
Certain actions from Central Government would be welcome – introducing a Capital Gains Tax, buildings trade apprenticeship support and tax deductibility for earthquake strengthening. Even without these potentially useful tools, it’s possible to develop an MOU to ensure social housing in Wellington is effectively managed, with tenant support, and fair access is encouraged in the Capital. Over time this could extend across the region.
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