Govt not being held accountable for housing 'human rights crisis' - Property News AU/NZ | propertynoise.co.nz & propertynoise.com.au

PHOTO: New Zealand Prime Minister – Jacinda Ardern. FILE

The Government has a “legal duty” to ensure all Kiwis have a decent home but there are no “effective accountability mechanisms” to make sure it actually is, according to a new report by the Human Rights Commission (HRC).

“Accountability is a crucial feature of good governance, democracy, and human rights. Without it these policies and statements can easily become window-dressing,” said Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt.

The report, Strengthening Accountability and Participation in the Housing System, is the first to emerge from the HRC since it launched its housing inquiry in August.

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“For many years, successive governments in Aotearoa New Zealand have committed to implement the human right to a decent home,” the new report begins, citing various international human rights agreements New Zealand has signed up to.

“Despite these promises, the country faces a housing and human rights crisis caused by decades of neglect. The crisis exposes a failure of public policy and democracy. Democratic institutions with the responsibility to anticipate and swiftly tackle crises have failed to do their job.”

Home ownership rates have been falling for decades, and the rental housing stock is on average of poorer quality than those housing owner-occupiers. That’s despite homeowners paying a far smaller proportion of their incomes on housing – data in the new report showing nearly half of rental households spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs, compared to just over 20 percent of owner-occupied households.

Both measures have blown out over the past 30 years, but more so for renters – and it’s getting worse.