HOME IS WHERE THE LANDLORD IS

It is an election year, so every week Nexus will cover new policies it finds interesting and try to get the politicians to speak to us. The obvious place to start was with the Greens who launched A Home for Everybody, last week. So we asked Dylan Jarrett to cover it while Toby  Brockelbank sat down with Francisco Hernandez  

It’s no secret that young people are doing it rough right now.  Some of the hottest content regarding Uni students is just how abysmal the living situation is. And, sure, a lot of that might be self-inflicted by students on Castle Street, but more and more we’re seeing stories come out about dampness, mold, shit heating, and all of that on top of levels of rent which are frankly unrealistic for people juggling study with an arid job market. Do we have to be looking through windows blanketed with condensation or is there a clearer vision for us?   
  
Speaking at an event in the South Island Marama Davidson said the party was going to tackle the tough issues.   
“In 2022, 46% of renting households spent more than 30% of their income on rent,” said Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson. 

“Homelessness, the housing crisis, and unacceptable, unsafe housing conditions are political choices, and we will make every choice we can to end them.” 

 “By enacting meaningful policy, we can achieve secure, affordable housing for everyone, and benefit all New Zealanders in the process.” 

 Co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick added that “Every New Zealander needs to live in a warm, dry, stable home if we want a country that thrives.”  

“This isn’t rocket science. Mass building of public housing almost 100 years ago led to decades of stable, affordable homes for New Zealanders. Other countries have shown how sensible, practical policies to strengthen renter’s rights and common sense tax settings, to stop housing being treated as a state-sanctioned casino, means more affordable homes.” 

Alongside a hefty promise to end homelessness, a big part of the Greens’ plan is centered on strengthening renter’s rights. Some of the key points of the policy include: 

• A renters rights bill in Parliament 

• A cap to  rent increases at 2% per year 

• The introduction of  a Rental Warrant of Fitness which would aim to address the holes in the Healthy Homes standards and, hopefully,  also the holes in your flat’s insulation.  

• Create a national register of all landlords, property managers and boarding houses, introducing accreditation and regulatory compliance 

• Build tens of thousands more public homes, and increase long-term funding for councils and community housing providers 

  
Nexus sat down with Green MP Francisco Hernandez to get his thoughts on how students would be impacted by the current government’s rental policies and how the Greens would. 

“The Greens are the only party in Parliament that’s actually come up with a plan that includes students to see them through the cost of living crisis. So what we’ve said is that we want  everyone to be getting a universal payment, and we want everyone to be getting free public transport.” Hernandez said. 

 “Unfortunately, the package that the government has announced around $50 a week only includes people like adults on working for families under a certain threshold. It only includes 150,000 families in a country where there’s like, you know, the total number of households something like 1.8 million, so it’s really inadequate and doesn’t include students when it should.”