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Thursday 18 September 1997 |
ACCOMMODATION SUPPLEMENT NOT WORKING SAYS COUNCIL
The Christchurch City Council has researched low income housing in the City and is now calling for a serious look at the Accommodation Supplement which the Council says is not working.
Councillor Garry Moore, Chair of the Community Service Committee, is concerned that the Minister of Housing Murray McCully has not listened to views of Council.
“We talked to Murray McCully last year, and we told him that homelessness is a reality in Christchurch, we told him that low income housing policies are not working, and we told him that in many cases the Accommodation Supplement has resulted in landlords increasing rents and has become a subsidy to landlords,” said Garry Moore.
“Our view after a significant amount of research was that the Housing New Zealand objectives of achieving a commercial return on investments while trying to have social objectives is neither working nor achievable.”
The Council Housing Report, published in December 1996 calls, among other things, for a return to a differential rental system based on income, that the Accommodation Supplement be increased in amount to meet tenants’ needs, and to low interest loans being made available with the deposit being income related.
ENDS
For further information contact:
Councillor Garry Moore Phone: 025 330-559