Too few State houses

Press, 7 November 1984, Page 8

Too few State houses

PA Wellington A serious rundown in State rental housing under the previous National Government had resulted in severe difficulties for the Housing Corporation in meeting the rental needs of low-income tenants, said the Minister of Housing, Mr Goff, yesterday. Briefing papers showed the number of corporation houses rented to have fallen more than 2700 units ■ between March, 1981, and March, 1984, he said. Over the same period, rental applicants actually housed had fallen from 7197 in the March, 1981, year to only 4300 last year. Applicants on the waiting list had almost doubled over the last five years, the 7068 applicants in December, 1979, rising to 11,652 in March, 1984, and topping

12,500 by the middle of July. State house sales under the National Government had run well above replacement levels for several years, said Mr Goff. Accelerating rates of sales, reaching 1750 in the latest year, needed to be stemmed to prevent a crisis in availability of rental accommodation for low-in-come families. The National Government’s Limited Tenancy Scheme had been of limited value in freeing up additional rental units, Mr Goff said.

In the 12 months to March, 1984, only 62 tenancies had been vacated as a consequence of the scheme and twide as many tenants (126) had opted to buy their previous tenancies rather than vacating.

This had contributed to the Labour Government’s decision to cancel the scheme and suspend State house sales in favour of an active promotion of the $35,000 loan scheme to assist tenants wishing to vacate their State tenancies and buy in the private sector.

This scheme had been very successful with more than 700 rental units being freed up since the beginning of July, he said. Now that the Limited Tenancy Savings Scheme had been cancelled, the existing rent system was being reviewed pending the introduction of marketrelated rentals linked to a tenant’s ability to pay, he said. This would ensure that high-income tenants paid a fair market rent rather than

receiving an ongoing taxpayer subsidy. Mr Goff said the briefing papers also exposed the “appalling inadequacy” of the previous Administration’s programmes for the replacement of State rental houses lost in sales. Not only had the previous Administration set programme levels well below the rate of sales, which had resulted in average net losses to the rental stock of 900 in each of the last three years, it had programmed 250 additional units in 1983-84 for which only a token additional funding provision had been made, he said. While the programme for acquisition of 750 State houses for the 1983-84 financial year had been announced publicly, not enough money had been authorised.