Loafers Lodge tragedy highlights housing 'not treated as a human right'

Tuesday, 23 May 2023

Anthony Harris explains how he and fellow residents escaped from the third floor of the Loafers Lodge.

The fatal fire at a Wellington boarding house highlights how many people are being harmed by the housing crisis, Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt says.

It also highlights the need for an independent body to hold government and housing providers accountable to uphold housing standards and the human rights of those who lived in it.

At least five people are confirmed dead and a further 10 still unaccounted for after the fire at Loafers Lodge, which broke out last Tuesday morning. Police are treating it as an arson.

Loafers Lodge housed some of Wellington’s most vulnerable and marginalised people living in poverty.

**READ MORE:

Flowers have been left opposite Loafers Lodge, the Newtown boarding house where at least five people died in a fire early on Tuesday morning last week.

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* Loafers Lodge housed some of Wellington’s 'most vulnerable'

A former resident and former refugee who escaped the fire, Umer Dalu, said some people had disabilities and mobility issues.

The fire highlights the need for an independent body to hold government and housing providers accountable to uphold housing standards and the human rights of those who lived in it, Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt says.

The building was not required to have sprinklers and it was confirmed the front door had been locked shut leaving just one ground floor exit from the 112-capacity building.

“If you saw the people living there … It’s quite cruel,” he said.

Hunt said values deteriorated when it came to housing.

“We let profit be more important than the human right to a decent home.

“Many have had no option but to live in unsafe and precarious conditions as a result.”

After the fatal fire it was crucial to identify what needed to be done to ensure it would not happen again, Hunt said.

One of the key recommendations of the commission’s inquiry into the Government’s emergency housing system, is to set up a permanent accountability body with the power to address systemic issues.

Last year, the commission found emergency housing breached the human rights of those living in it.

'Accountability is about ensuring standards are respected and promises are kept. It does not need to be about blame or punishment,' Hunt said.

Such a body would be able to provide an independent review in cases like the Loafers Lodge fire, which highlighted the poor regulation of boarding houses.

“Too often, we are not treating housing as a human right. We must take the opportunity now to put human rights at the centre of our housing efforts.”

It was also important the right to a decent home was recognised in the context of te Tiriti o Waitangi, Hunt said.

Stephen Turnock, director of social service DCM, said some people living at Loafers Lodge were unable to access adequate housing or support from the Government.

“There’s an outflowing of support now for the residents who have been through a traumatic crisis event, but for many of the survivors this is just the latest incident on top of repeated housing trauma and insecurity.”

The final housing inquiry will be released in early July.