7. CONTEXTO DE LA INVESTIGACIÓN
8.4 Evaluación de la propuesta
As part of a national process for local Councils, a debate has developed around the question of what the core business activities of a Council are supposed to be. A central issue in the development of this debate is whether there should be clearly defined bottom lines established on a national level as part of an in depth consultative process. What responsibility should local government have for low income residents? Have local Councils' challenges to government concerning the devolution of social responsibility to local communities and local bodies been at the expense of those on low incomes? Housing has presented an opportunity for two Councils, Auckland City and Waitakere City, to develop a response within the tenns of reference of the core business debate. Local government has been particularly pressured by the changes to housing policy but has not had the resources to fill the gap.
Auckland City Council housing has a significant section of local body housing where the majority of residents are women headed households, pensioners and Pacific Island groups (Austin et al: 1 996) . The same patterns have been observed in Council housing in Britain (Mal pass and Murie: 1 994: 1 48) . The victims of this battle of responsibilities are the tenants of council housing and those in housing need.
Auckland City Council has decided that, despite a long standing and critical role in housing provision in the central city, direct provision of housing would not be part of its core business activities. They have been accused of another agenda, in terms of revenue generation to support other activities, namely the financing of the America's Cup but this is merely speculation. The result was a Council decision to sell most of the flats and houses they own and rent the rest, which is mainly pensioner housing, at market rents less 5% which can mean, as in one example, an increase from $ 1 98 to $380 for a three bedroom house. The hardship allowance has also been withdrawn. Council member, David Rankin said:
... that the Council believes providing cheap housing is the responsibility of central government not local government...We cannot continue to have some ratepayers subsidising the housing needs of other ratepayers .... Council will be urging all tenants to contact the New Zealand Income Support Service to confirm the level of
Accommodation Supplement they are entitled to (New Zealand Herald: 1 997:30 March).
This decision was supported by two reports (Beckerleg: 1 996, McPherson: 1 996) both of which favoured the sale of Council rental properties despite the fact that one of the reports, which was supposed to be a social impact report, consulted none of the tenants.
As one reporter noted:
... the Councils definition of core services is at best elastic. It found a fortune for its Britomart property development, dug deep to underwrite the failed Rugby Hall of Fame and is pouring several million into a swimming pool at Mt Albert (New Zealand Herald: 1 996: 1 6 December).
Burke (cited in Austin and Turner: 1 995:5) states that local politicians tend to satisfy the needs of landowners, especially those who pay the highest rates, before that of renters. This has an impact on the rental population who are further marginalised as they represent a smaller proportion of the population. Austin and Turner ( 1 995) also note overseas findings which suggest that what happens in one Local Authority has a direct impact on neighbouring bodies reinforcing the need for partnerships.
A report on Auckland City Council housing (Austin, Hucker and Lunday: 1 996) has identified the social composition and unique character of the community affected by these sales. The report indicates a need for the Council to re-examine the level of social responsibility to which it should be committed. The report found that:
... the majority of households (65%) have low incomes, with 35% having very low incomes. 82% of households with children have low incomes, with 52% very low incomes. 60% of the households are in receipt of a pension, benefit or student allowance. Residual incomes [income after rent] :
1 3% less than $50pw 3 1 % less than $ 1 00pw 47% less than $ 1 5Opw The writers concluded that:
Rent rises and sales will do considerable damage to the lives of tenants who are more vulnerable because of their low income and limited access to resources ... the destruction of these communities gives those on low incomes less opportunity to ameliorate their condition and escape from the poverty cycle (3).
The Auckland City Council has seemingly not only developed different priorities which do not include low income housing but also rejected social responsibility as part of its core business. Rather it is suggested (Austin, Hucker and Lunday: 1 996) , that they are using the profit gained from the sale of properties to fund further other projects that will benefit another group whose resources are much more extensive. This is especially disturbing when it is found that these Council properties were originally endowment properties granted by the government to benefit the citizens of Auckland. According to one anecdotal comment from someone who was present at a public meeting concerning these sales, the Council sought the blessing of the community rather than stimulate debate as an essential part of true consultation. More recently, public opposition to these decisions resulted in a move by some tenants to form a Housing Association and buy some of the buildings. While there have been many holdups in the process employed by the Council as they raised rents to a market level and continued to sell properties, the newly formed Housing Association recently successfully negotiated the buying of some of the Council properties.
The Council seems to VIew the City's investment in affordable housing as a financial benefit only rather than also being a social benefit. The housing is not a financial burden on the Council since it provides $20m a year as well as a social good, which is a commodity not costed as part of financial equations. Issues such as stability and its effect on health, mutual support systems and the value of mixed communities are highlighted in the above report (Austin, Hucker and Lunday: 1 996) . What price can be put on social stability and cohesion? In this situation, the value of housing is reduced to a financial cost and, as discussed in the chapter on the meaning of home, other central aspects are ignored even though there are long term costs involved.
An alternative response to Auckland City's position on housing is to be found in the approach of Waitakere City Council which since 1 994, despite administering only a small amount of pensioner housing, has chosen to monitor housing and associated issues in the city. It has achieved this by way of an annual report on the well-being of the city. Since 1 986 Waitakere City's population has grown by 25% which is the fastest growth rate in New Zealand. The percentage of two parent
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families is dropping, 4 1 .8% to 37.8% ( 1 986- 1 99 1 ) and that of single parents growing, 1 1 . 7% to 1 8% ( 1 986- 1 99 1 ) (Waitakere City Council: 1 996) . The Pacific Island population has grown by 4 1 % in the same period. There are particularly high numbers of single parent families in four of West Auckland suburbs - Royal Heights, Royal Rd West and West Harbour all 4 7% and New Lynn North 46% (Waitakere City Council: 1 996) .
An important point to note i s that these figures have not produced a change i n the types and cost of housing available in this city. "The current housing stock is dominated by single detached 'family' houses" (Austin: 1 995:5). Austin also comments on the policy of urban containment with its emphasis on the environment and lack of inclusion of the need for low cost housing. The impact of such a policy will have a negative effect on the housing market while enhancing the environment for those able to afford to live there. In a Waitakere City report ( 1 996) it was noted, while acknowledging the limitations of such a method, that of all housing advertised for rental in a newspaper survey, 58% were three bedroom houses and only 7% were one bedroom with 1 1 % four bedrooms or more. Diversity of housing type is a particularly pressing problem.
In a survey carried out in February/March 1 996 by the Waitakere City Council it was found that the average asking price for rentals was $267 per week which represented an increase of 1 6% over the preceding year. However as this report pointed out, the average wage rate increased by only 3.2%, a significant difference (Waitakere City Council: 1 996) .
I argue that housing should be an explicit part of policies which run across local body boundaries to regional boundaries. Involvement in housing is often interpreted to mean direct housing provision but there are many policies and activities, such as regulations, infrastructure, rates and type of developments, which impact on housing accessibility and affordability. Another central issue is the withdrawal of the state from social responsibilities and the defensive stance Councils believe they must take when they are expected to absorb the results of this withdrawal without any support to do so. Those on low incomes are the ones who are caught in the middle of the debate.
Conclusion
This chapter has established the context in which the housing issues discussed in subsequent chapters are set. There are a number of key issues. Firstly, the changes established for housing were part of a wider change in ideology which has deeply affected the focus of policy development. It can be argued that these changes have more to do with financial savings than issues of social responsibility. The evidence lies in the government's lack of commitment to the provision of low cost housing. Without any bottom line based on income below which no one can fall - such as a poverty line or one based on housing costs - this situation will be exacerbated. As has been demonstrated in this chapter, policy grounded in an understanding of gender and ethnicity issues such as those discussed, is essential.
Secondly, on a local level Councils need to develop a bench mark establishing which households are falling below this line so that policies developed accurately reflect the needs of this group. A home ownership threshold has been suggested (Austin and Turner: 1 995) which would involve the "calculation of an indicator of the percentage of households with incomes above (or below) that threshold level, which can then be used to monitor, for example, the ability of households in the 25-35 years age group to afford owner occupation ... " (6) .
Another issue is the privatisation of government departments such as Housing New Zealand which has no statutory requirement to give out housing statistics, only those pertaining to the Annual Report. They reminded me that their information is commercially sensitive as they are in competition with real estate agents. Therefore, I was reliant on indirect sources for information. This is a significant problem if researchers have to pay market prices for statistics and most of the statistics pertaining to Housing New Zealand are considered 'commercially sensitive'. The situation seems to be seriously undermining the quality of analysis and enabling
politicians to pass off important issues with a blanket statement that no statistics
are available as a justification for the continuation of inequitable policies. Information available to consumers is also sparse. A Housing Corporation worker stated that there were, "no pamphlets as the situation was too complex and each individual situation is different but that people could use the freephone" (Private
communication with Housing Corporation worker, May 1 995) . The role of the Ministry of Housing has to be queried. There is a lack of information on what research is or has been done in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The Ministry seem only concerned with their own contracts and their role seems to be predominantly advising Ministers. They certainly do not appear to be interested in coordinating research.
Finally the acknowledgment by government of the growing numbers in serIOUS housing need is long overdue. It is remarkable that despite internal audits and international convenants, whose audit processes have reminded the Ministry of its obligations, the Ministry is not obliged to keep up to date figures on serious housing need so that the reality of these problems can be addressed. With the
government's current emphasis on the market, that is the small cash markeF , supplying all answers and needs, there is no linkage or bridge between policy and the recipients and there is no process for accurately reflecting the needs of the people. What follows from this discussion in the next two chapters is a more detailed examination of private and state rental housing contrasted with an analysis of the position of the owner occupier.
7 See Waring "Discussion paper on the role of the state" in The role of the state: five (New Zealand Royal Commission on Social Policy: 1 988) where she identifies 3 markets; unpaid altruistic market, central and local government services and the cash market which is the smallest of all ( 1 2).