Greens urge tenants to share stories to bolster tenancy reform
The Green Party hopes its campaign targeted at renters who have endured substandard accommodation will open the eyes of some MPs.
The party is today launching a campaign asking for people to come forward with their stories about what it describes as subpar experiences of renting in Aotearoa.
StatsNZ figures show renters are less likely to be satisfied with their accommodation than homeowners.
Auckland Central’s Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick told Morning Report she had been most successful in achieving reform in areas like drug law reform and alcohol policy by drawing on the stories of those most-affected in the community and making it impossible for government to ignore.
“And that’s part of the point is to make it impossible to ignore and to ensure that the collected shared power of the one and a half million renters in this country is felt and felt deeply and profoundly specifically in election year.”
Whenever there was a suggestion for rental protection there was a powerful lobby opposed to the suggestions so that was why it was also important for renters to speak about their experiences, she said.
Swarbrick said tenancy reforms in this country have not gone far enough.
With their plunge in the TVNZ Poll, the Greens seem to have recognised that culture wars won’t actually win us an election and have instead turned to righteous rental rage instead.
And there is much to feel rage for as a renter in this country.
We are seeing in real time a class war this election.
There is an unspoken promise between the neoliberal State and the untaxed capital gains private landlord class that the neoliberal State never builds enough State Houses to alleviate housing desperation so that the untaxed capital gains private landlord class can exploit that housing desperation ON TOP OF getting a $1.5Billion annual subsidy in the form of the Accommodation Allowance EVERY SINGLE YEAR!
So the neoliberal State work hand in glove with the interests of the untaxed capital gains private landlord class to constantly keep desperation in the Housing market by never building enough State Houses WHILE handing taxpayer funded subsidies to the untaxed capital gains private landlord class!
This rigged casino where Landlords can constantly use their own debt to buy more property and out leverage first time home buyers just adds insult to injury.
On top of this, ACT and National want to give that same untaxed capital gains private landlord class the power to evict you at will so they can kick out the smelly domestic renters and exploit the new 100000 migrant workers coming into the country, remove all the healthy home and environmental regulations and put back in place the tax loopholes that benefit the untaxed capital gains private landlord class.
On top of this, the Real Estate pimps are donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Right and are dangling the promise of house prices jumping 20% if National and ACT win.
The Housing Crisis is a political decision and you as renters should be incandescent with motherfucking rage at how this has been allowed to continue!
We have a class war this election but none of the political vocabulary on the Left to fight it because Identity Politics has replaced Class.
Pure Temple alienation over Broadchurch solidarity.
The minefield of cancel culture Social Justice over the collective power of Economic Justice.
I’m pretty sure there will be some white cis male renters in NZ.
Renters need to join forces as a political voting block this election or the Right will champion the interests of the untaxed capital gains private landlord class and fuck us.
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The best description of voucher-like supplements like the Accommodation Supplement I’ve heard so far, is that they amount to giving a bullied kid extra lunch money (Cory Doctorow).
Too late for the Greens. They deserve all the rejection coming their way after the appalling way they have both done nothing where it was needed and done too much where it was not.
Their only chance is for a continuation of the neutered abusive relationship they have with Labour which is now looking increasingly unlikely.
I don’t care about scum lords who don’t plan ahead for a bad patch. Property is the lowest form of investing. Investors take all the risk. If a tenant has a bad day they can cause thousands in damages but if investors have a bad one they cause economic recessions / depressions.
Not when the investors are circulating blacklists containing illegally-held personal information.
The problem for the Greens is that denunciations are not enough. Where are the plans for slum clearance, mass development, desegregation and city beautification? Are they also going to dump their support for globalism, and support the reconstruction of an advanced, high-wage local economy — the reason that the housing stock became so run down in the first place?
Rentals have been poorly regulated for years around mould and maintenance. Some landlords are proactive and care. But many are in the ‘do as little as possible camp’.
Ironically the best houses and best landlords now are the new Kainga Ora homes.
On the negative side investors might sell off properties because of the possible reaction from tenants and invest in business. That could give even more scarcity of much needed accommodation..not an easy answer here…care what you wish for. I would hate to see tent city big time in NZ that would be disaster.
During 2022 there was widespread acceptance that NZ had a serious issue with homelessness. Many agree the number exceeds one hundred thousand people.
The net gain of immigrants for the same period was over fifty thousand.
Yes, new home building consents were up during the same period but few immigrants will buy those due either to their circumstances or the fact a new immigrant must invest x amount of dollars in NZ for x number of years. Few will have enough to buy a new home as well.
End result. Even more pressure on NZ’s house rental stock.
Ask yourself this question. You’re a landlord. A beneficiary wants to let your property and a highly motivated new immigrant also wants to rent the property. The bond for the beneficiary will be paid for by WINZ. Chances are the percentage of that person’s friends etc will also be beneficiaries. The immigrant will be employed and happy to secure the property by paying six months or even 12 months rent in advance. This I’m told is fairly common.
Who would you let your property out to?
Is NZ creating more homelessness and even more need for social housing / motels etc?
Over 3% of NZ land is foreign owned. A percentage of that will be land banking.
We have a staggering number of unoccupied properties in NZ. A percentage of these will be owned by offshore trusts etc and are house banking.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/119636091/200k-empty-ghost-houses-why-and-what-would-get-them-into-the-market
An answer to solving NZ’s homelessness and house rental shortage is hidden in clear view.
We need to stop encouraging more homelessness and stop pumping hundreds of millions of tax payer funds in motel accommodation.
Rental rage many people know about. What are the Greens going to DO about the housing crisis and the way we are having our houses and our potential homes used in rental accommodation; either sold beneath us, made too expensive to pay for in rent, rates, and finally being forced to live in hovels.
Depression days are here. In economic depressions everyone doesn’t suffer. Some who float like corks over stormy waters. Have Greens actually touched on reality for human beings, across all classes, taking in everybody or are they just picking on a well rehearsed meme? I think that their criteria for interest is narrow ie “”If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.” Humans ain’t in it, especially those below middle class.
Little blue penguins need houses and hoiho are endangered; I suggest practical people in NZ who care and understand our humanity and needs are are also an endangered species. We cannot rely on principled politicians, thoughtful civil administration, and religion is about not having sex ‘inappropriately’ and being respectable.
Landlords complaining about bad tenants are like slave masters complaining about bad slaves, be greatful you get to leach off someone else while making it harder for them to afford their own home by contributing to an artificial housing shortagee
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