scholarly journals A Case for Universal State Housing in Aotearoa New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 19-45
Author(s):  
Vanessa Cole
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Housing Policy ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Housing Crisis ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand

In contemporary debates about solutions to the housing crisis in Aotearoa New Zealand, state housing is side-lined. But there have been renewed calls internationally for expanding state provision of housing. Some of these calls have been to expand the criteria of access to state housing to make it more universal, ensuring everyone has a home and challenging housing as an investment. This article presents a case for universal state housing in Aotearoa New Zealand. It explores nine main benefits that a universal state-housing policy could bring to Aotearoa New Zealand, including creating more affordable housing, towns, and cities, more secure housing, combating gentrification, displacement, and stigma, and making housing more democratic, environmentally sustainable, and accessible. This article is an act of imagining—the seeding of an idea to start conversations—not a blueprint for how things should be.

From central to marginal: The trajectory of Israel’s public-housing policy

Urban Studies ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (11) ◽  
pp. 2432-2447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ravit Hananel
Keyword(s):  
Public Housing ◽  
Housing Policy ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Housing Construction ◽  
Land Uses ◽  
Housing Crisis ◽  
Housing Policies ◽  
Housing Developments ◽  
The Past ◽  
Urban Diversity

Over the past decade, in the wake of the global housing crisis, many countries have again turned to public housing to increase the supply of affordable housing for disadvantaged residents. Because the literature and past experience have generally shown public-housing policies to be contrary to the urban-diversity approach, many countries are reshaping their policies and focusing on a mix of people and of land uses. In this context, the Israeli case is particularly interesting. In Israel, as in many other countries (such as Germany and England), there was greater urban diversity in public-housing construction during the 1950s and 1960s (following the state’s establishment in 1948). However, at the beginning of the new millennium, when many countries began to realise the need for change and started reshaping their public-housing policies in light of the urban-diversity approach, Israel responded differently. In this study I use urban diversity’s main principles – the mix of population and land uses – to examine the trajectory of public-housing policy in Israel from a central housing policy to a marginal one. The findings and the lessons derived from the Israeli case are relevant to a variety of current affordable-housing developments in many places.

scholarly journals The housing crisis in Australia and New Zealand: A comparative analysis through policy lenses

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-223
Author(s):  
Don Amila Sajeevan Samarasinghe ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Social Housing ◽  
Housing Affordability ◽  
Housing Crisis ◽  
Housing Policies ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government

Housing affordability is a prominent issue across the world. There is a growing concern that the number of people experiencing homelessness is rapidly increasing. As a solution, many countries, including Australia and New Zealand, have introduced housing policies aimed at providing affordable houses to low-to-medium income families. Over recent years, several affordable housing policies have been introduced in both Australia and New Zealand, including public housing initiatives, rental subsidies, accommodation supplements, state housing programmes and the provision of social housing. New Zealand launched the KiwiBuild programme in 2018 to increase housing affordability. Unfortunately, in 2019, KiwiBuild was unable to deliver its targeted primary objectives set by the Government. This study features a comparative analysis, primarily focusing on comparing and contrasting affordable housing policies in Australia and New Zealand. Subsequently, it discusses the reasons why the KiwiBuild programme failed. It makes recommendations based on policies used in Australia with a view to improving affordable housing policies in New Zealand. This research contributes and adds to the existing body of knowledge about affordable housing policies in both Australia and New Zealand. The recommendations will be helpful for future researchers who wish to develop workable policies to assist with affordable housing-related issues in New Zealand.

scholarly journals Australian local governments and affordable housing: Challenges and possibilities

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-33
Author(s):  
Alan Morris ◽  
Andrew Beer ◽  
John Martin ◽  
Sandy Horne ◽  
Catherine Davis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Housing Policy ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Home Ownership ◽  
Housing Affordability ◽  
Local Government Area ◽  
Housing Crisis ◽  
Nation Wide Survey ◽  
Almost All

For an increasing proportion of Australian households, the Australian dream of home ownership is no longer an option. Neoliberal housing policy and the financialisation of housing has resulted in a housing affordability crisis. Historically, Australian housing policy has afforded only a limited role to local government. This article analyses the results of a nation-wide survey of Australian local governments’ perceptions of housing affordability in their local government area, the possibilities for their meaningful intervention, the challenges they face, the role of councillors and councils’ perceptions of what levels of government should take responsibility for housing. Almost all of the respondents from Sydney and Melbourne councils were clear that there is a housing affordability crisis in their local government area. We apply a framework analysing housing policy in the context of neoliberalism and the related financialisation of housing in order to analyse the housing affordability crisis in Sydney and Melbourne. We conclude that in order to begin resolving the housing crisis in Australia’s two largest cities there has to be an increasing role for local government, a substantial increase in the building of social and affordable housing and a rollback of policies that encourage residential property speculation. JEL Codes: R31, R21

scholarly journals Re-socialising Aotearoa New Zealand Housing

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 47-75
Author(s):  
Mark Southcombe
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Home Ownership ◽  
Urban Housing ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Sustainable Housing ◽  
Common Space ◽  
Cooperative Housing ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand

Urban housing in Aotearoa New Zealand is predominantly unit-titled, individualised dwellings whether the housing is owner-occupied or a rental investment. As housing increases in density, the provision and management of common space becomes necessary. In Aotearoa New Zealand, when this occurs, the extent of privately owned housing space is typically privileged, and shared common space minimised. In contrast, cooperative housing integrates housing, economic factors, and social contexts to create long-term socially and economically sustainable housing. Since the 19th century, cooperative housing has provided evidence of internationally awarded and recognised, self-help, community-generated housing that includes shared components. Cooperative housing offers a third way of achieving affordable housing security, one that lies between home ownership and renting. Legislatively mandated and protected cooperative housing is needed in Aotearoa New Zealand to augment our existing housing production systems and types, and to help address the need for enduring, affordable, and socially sustainable housing.

scholarly journals Mitigating California Wildfire Impact Through Zoning and Housing Policy

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Conner S. Philson ◽  
Lauren Wagner ◽  
Ria Nawathe
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Housing Policy ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
The United States ◽  
Housing Crisis ◽  
Personal Property ◽  
Damage Costs ◽  
Risk Areas ◽  
Critical Components

Since 1970, California has been facing the worst affordable housing crisis in the United States. In an attempted solution, government subsidies have driven housing development into untouched wildlands across the state. However, these developments are increasingly subject to destruction by wildfire due to global climate change and historical mismanagement of public lands. Since 1990, 41% of new housing across California has been developed in known fire zones. Wildfire prevention, combat, and damage costs approximately $18 billion annually, with $10 billion attributed to property damage. During 2020, California’s worst fire year on record, more than 4.4 million acres burned with costs to personal property estimated to exceed $20 billion. Therefore, residential zoning and housing policy are critical components to mitigate wildfire impact. To do so, we propose the implementation of a multipronged approach over the next decade: discontinue development in extremely high-risk fire zones, increase government buyouts in these high-risk areas to move people out of harm’s way, increase urban up-zoning to generate affordable housing, and increase retrofitting of existing at-risk homes to enhance structural and resident survival. This will be a historic economic, legislative, and logistic undertaking. However, despite the large up-front costs, an estimated $350 billion and 1,500 lives can be saved over the next decade through this approach. The consequences to life and property because of wildfire in California are too great for inaction or incremental progress. Swift and foundational change is required over the coming decade.

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