About us
Part 1: Partners and stakeholders
We must work with our partners and stakeholders to achieve the Government's long-term vision for housing.
The New Zealand Housing Strategy requires effective relationships between government agencies. The wide range of possible links within this strategy requires us to maintain a clear focus on our priorities, while looking for ways of achieving better integration of our activities with those of other agencies. We aim to ensure that our customers can access the public sector agencies and services they need.
Examples of some of our joint policy work with other government agencies are listed below. These show how our work contributes to the outcomes of other agencies that have responsibilities for improving the economic and social participation of New Zealanders in need.
The Social Services Cluster aims to better integrate the services of the Corporation, Ministry of Social Development and the Department of Building and Housing. It enables us to develop practical and effective ways of working with each other, and other government and non-government agencies in the social sector, to help bring about the best possible outcomes for New Zealanders in need.
We are committed to working together because:
- many of our services are most effective only when combined with those provided by other social sector agencies
- our customers often have multiple needs that are best addressed together, instead of different agencies working with them separately.
The cluster shares a common outcomes framework and is working together to improve social and economic outcomes for New Zealanders by building strong and resilient families and vibrant and stable communities. A supply of affordable, good quality housing, tenure stability and a safe and secure built environment contribute to achieving these shared outcomes.
Current cluster initiatives include Integrated Services Delivery, Community Renewal and working with the Ministry of Social Development in Northland through the Rural Housing Programme. These initiatives are explained in more detail below.
This initiative addresses the housing, income and employment needs of the Corporation's and Ministry of Social Development's customers by combining our service centres to provide integrated customer services. This joint approach, successfully piloted in Mangere, is an opportunity to provide effective services to meet a wider range of needs.
The initiative is being extended to other areas of high need, particularly South Auckland. The feedback from customers, who have been able to resolve multiple issues through one visit to the combined service centre, has been particularly positive. It has also helped Corporation and Ministry staff develop a deeper understanding of their respective roles and operating practices, leading to improved outcomes for customers. Senior regional managers of both agencies are developing and implementing better coordination of service delivery between the agencies in many areas across the country.
Community Renewal
The Housing New Zealand Corporation Community Renewal programme delivers neighbourhood and housing improvement in deprived areas where the Corporation has a high concentration of properties. It goes beyond the boundaries of traditional housing improvement programmes and adopts a community development approach to area-based regeneration.
Close working relationships have been established with local authorities and community groups in each Community Renewal area. There are also strong links with government and nongovernment organisations, including the Ministry of Social Development, New Zealand Police, local health providers, local Maori and Pacific Island organisations. The Corporation launched the Community Renewal programme in 2001. There are currently six projects in Aranui (Christchurch), eastern Porirua (Wellington), Fordlands (Rotorua), Clendon (South Auckland), Talbot Park (Glen Innes, Auckland) and Northcote (North Shore, Auckland).
Northland Social Development Cluster
This regional initiative includes the Ministry of Social Development and the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services. It aims to help agencies understand the total social need of individuals and families, and uses housing to initiate family and community solutions.
Healthy Housing
The Healthy Housing programme aims to reduce housing-related health risks, crowding and the risk of associated diseases and to improve tenant knowledge of services and access to them. The programme is a joint initiative between the Corporation and district health boards in Counties Manukau, Auckland and Northland. The programme will be extended to other regions. The impetus for the programme came from research in Auckland during the late 1990s that showed living in a crowded house is an important determinant of meningococcal disease, respiratory diseases, tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, skin infections and mental illness.
We work with a wide range of partners and stakeholders, as shown in Table 5, and we will continue to develop our stakeholder relationships.
Government departments
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Other housing providers
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