Housing a human rights calamity, commissioner says

Sunday, 1 August 2021

Successive Governments have breached New Zealanders’ human right to housing, the Human Rights Commission says.

Chief Commissioner Paul Hunt said the current housing crisis was an institutional failure.

“Frankly it is a failure of our democracy. There is insufficient appreciation in New Zealand to the rights of a decent home, which is binding in international law.” Hunt said.

The law that Hunt refers to is the International Bill of Rights, which includes a human right to adequate housing.

* Housing in New Zealand 'a human rights crisis', UN report says

* Sorry, Judith, you're wrong about the Treaty and property rights**

Hunt said the Government was failing on this commitment.

Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt: “We mustn’t forget that a home is first and foremost a fundamental human right, not an investment.”

“We are currently facing a human rights calamity, from Bluff to Cape Reinga,” Hunt said.

“Housing is absolutely fundamental to the country’s health. Poor housing impoverishes people and it impoverishes our country. We have got to get this right.”

The commission is launching new framework guidelines on the right to a decent home in Aotearoa and said it would use to them hold a national inquiry into housing.

Brad Olsen says the economic situation has been shifting rapidly because central bank strategy has too.

Principal economist at Infometrics, Brad Olsen, said the commission was correct in targetting housing.

“If you don’t get housing right, the foundations of people’s lives are fundamentally affected. It means it is more difficult to participate in the economy, which can limit productivity. If you get the foundational housing settings right there are definitely wider economic benefits,” Olsen said.

But he said fixing housing crisis would take time.

“There are no quick fixes, there are no silver bullets. The best we can hope for in the short term is to hold housing increases back, before getting outcomes back on track by seeing a more people able to access homes,” Olsen said.

The commission wants to hold Government to account on housing.

“There needs to be what I call constructive accountability. Government reviewing themselves is not sufficient. Human rights require that there is a form of constructive, independent accountability which can hold Government to account on behalf of the people of New Zealand,” Hunt said.

The national inquiry will be focus on homelessness, difficulties in disabled housing, and people living in substandard homes.

Hunt said it was crucial that Government worked in Te Tiriti partnership with Maori stakeholders.

Hunt pointed to land use housing caps, as an example when a Te Tiriti partnership could better serve communities.

“The caps are made under the guise of slum avoidance. But what they do is they lead to the gentrification of areas, and they reduce housing choice particularly within disadvantaged groups. From a human rights point of view this is problematic.”

Ashok Jacob, a spokesman for Renter's United, said the Human Rights Commission was right to call out the Government for its failure on housing.

“We are seeing conditions that are embarrassing for a country that considers itself developed,' Jacob said.

“Just forgetting the cruelty of it, the fact that young people and precarious workers are suffering the indignity of insecure housing, the statistics are plainly embarrassing. I am glad that the Human Rights Commission is pointing the finger.'

Jacob hoped it would push the government to act with decisiveness against the growing housing crisis.

“We have solved a housing crisis before, and it was a Labour Government that did it. They did it by using evidence-based common sense policy to demonstrably improve the lives of the majority of working people,” Jacob said.

“There just doesn't seem to be the political will or the imagination to get that done, especially not in the current Labour Party.'

The UN has previously reported that in New Zealand’s view of housing as a “speculative asset” rather than a home has led to the current crisis.

UN special rapporteur Leilani Farha visited New Zealand in February, and found housing speculation, a lack of affordable options, limited protection for tenants, substandard housing, and the absence of an overarching Te Tiriti and human rights based housing strategy were contributing factors to the current crisis.

The Human Rights Commission guidelines will be officially launched on Monday evening.