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Research and Policy

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• Online version - New Zealand Housing Strategy
  • Online version - New Zealand Housing Strategy - Foreword
  • Building the Future
  • Programme of Action
  • Area 1 - Sustainable Housing Supply
  • Area 2 - Assistance and Affordability
  • Area 3 - Homeownership
  • Area 4 - Private Rental Sector
  • Area 5 - Housing Quality
  • Area 6 - Sector Capability
  • Area 7 - Meeting Diverse Needs
  • Appendices - Principles
  • Appendices - Glossary and Acronyms

Research and Policy

Area 7 - Meeting Diverse Needs

A diverse population requires varied housing options with respect to tenure, dwelling type, supported accommodation and half-way housing, and accessibility for people with disabilities. The changing mix of housing need is not always adequately met by a housing sector and stock that has developed over time in response to earlier requirements and opportunities.

Government will assist people whose needs are not met by the private housing market. It also has a role in raising awareness of the diverse needs of different population groups.

Housing work programmes will be developed for older people, women, children and youth, disabled people, Māori, Pacific peoples and other ethnic communities, all of which have social, health and support needs not always well met by the housing market.

The New Zealand Urban Design Protocol will promote quality urban design that responds to diversity and offers choice.

Population Diversity
Common themes under the consultation included a call for a wider range of housing types and the important role of third sector providers in meeting the needs of particular groups.

The discussion document Building the Future: Towards a New Zealand Housing Strategy included recommendations for addressing the housing needs of particular population groups. Many of those recommendations were developed by working parties that reported to the Minister of Housing in 2002 on the housing needs facing them. Their contribution is reflected in the indicative work programmes outlined on the following pages. Other initiatives have been added following consultation on the discussion document.

Changing Mix of Housing Need
A greater ethnic and cultural mix adds another dimension to the increasing diversity of housing need. Housing expectations are also changing. For example, bedsit accommodation was an accepted form of pensioner housing a generation ago; today it is considered inadequate.

The number and proportion of sole parent households, the majority of which are headed by women, has increased dramatically in the space of a single generation bringing demand for housing with secure tenure at an affordable price. Sole parent households are more likely to live in rented accommodation than other households.

People on low incomes can face difficulty maintaining homeownership following a relationship breakdown, even though they sometimes have substantial equity. The median annual income for all women of working age in the year to June 2004 was $21,742, and $36,498 for men. Child support obligations can place a strain on parents' finances that limits housing options, whether as an owner-occupier or renter, and may mean they struggle to provide a suitable home for their children.

Staging and Priorities
New standards for state housing need to be considered when meeting different people's needs. For example, some people want or need to live close to services, support networks, outpatient care and public transport, even though the costs of housing in those areas may mean a smaller house or apartment than would be the case if they lived further out.

During 2005, Housing New Zealand Corporation will work with other agencies to develop work programmes tailored to meet the needs of each of the identified groups. These work programmes will be linked with other areas of the programme of action.

Indicative work programmes to meet diverse needs are set out on the following pages.

Older People
The ageing population is one force that is driving changing housing needs. 'Baby boomers' are approaching retirement age and people are living longer, giving rise to demand for housing to meet their specific needs.

Housing issues for older people were canvassed in forums related to the development of the Positive Ageing Strategy 2001, the Health of Older People Strategy, and the Older Persons Working Party's report for the New Zealand Housing Strategy. They found that most older people wish to remain in their homes for as long as possible, and that this should be supported by better integration of housing for older people within the wider community. Housing interventions for older people need to be developed with services that support older people wherever they live.

For some older people, this may be a unit they own in a retirement community with support services on-hand; for others, it's an affordable rental house with no steps, close to shops, bus routes and a local doctor, and the security of long-term tenure. Older Māori may want kaumatua housing on or close to their marae. Some migrant communities want intergenerational housing that allows older people to remain with their extended family or live amongst native language speakers.

A housing work programme to meet the needs of older people will be developed during 2005 by Housing New Zealand Corporation, the Department of Building and Housing, and the Office for Senior Citizens, consistent with the Positive Ageing Strategy.

More women than men live alone. The difference is most noticeable in the 65-years and over age group where 43% of women live alone, compared with 20% of men. Women also head 82% of sole parent households.

Overall, women were seen to be disadvantaged in the housing market. It was generally agreed that lower average incomes, time out from the workforce to raise children, and longer timeframes to pay off student loans have an impact on women's ability to pay market rent or save for home loans.

Women are more likely than men to be subject to domestic violence, and Māori women are more likely than non-Māori women to seek refuge accommodation. At present, there is limited emergency housing available, and many women face problems finding adequate housing for themselves and their children.

The inability to accumulate and retain assets such as a house was seen as having an impact on the financial security of women that is long term and extends into their retirement.

A housing work programme to meet the needs of women will be developed during 2005 by Housing New Zealand Corporation, the Department of Building and Housing and the Ministry of Women's Affairs, consistent with the Action Plan for New Zealand Women.

Disability and Mental Health

One in every five New Zealanders reports some level of disability. As the population ages and the number of older people grows, the prevalence of age-related disabilities will increase. Disabled people often face particular difficulties finding housing that meets their needs. Almost all the housing stock in New Zealand has been designed with able-bodied people in mind.

The Mental Health and Disabilities Working Party relied heavily on the work completed in the New Zealand Disability Strategy 2001, which seeks to increase opportunities for disabled people to live in the community with a choice of affordable and good quality housing.

Main issues include a lack of accessible housing for people with mobility and sensory difficulties, the impact of low incomes in reducing choice, concern about security of housing tenure for people who experience bouts of acute mental or physical illness that require intermittent hospitalisation, and the lack of accessible and well co-ordinated support services for disabled people. While some third sector service organisations are fulfilling a support role in some localities and for particular population groups, further expansion in this area is needed.

During 2005, CHRANZ expects to release a research report on Housing Choices for Disabled New Zealanders that will provide options for further research to address the key housing issues affecting disabled New Zealanders.

Adequate housing has a major role to play in the prevention of, and recovery from, mental illness. In 2001, 46,200 individuals accessed mental health services. Of those people, 17% were experiencing housing difficulties while living independently, and 4% were homeless or transient. These percentages are likely to be underestimated as they take no account of people who are prone to mental illness but not registered with a mental health service provider.

A housing work programme to meet the needs of disabled people and those with mental illness will be developed during 2005 by Housing New Zealand Corporation, the Department of Building and Housing and the Ministry of Health, consistent with the New Zealand Disability Strategy and the Mental Health Blueprint.

Children do not usually have a say in where they live. Housing providers have a special responsibility to address children's needs in housing design and provision. The Government's Youth Development Strategy Aotearoa noted the need for young people to live in housing that is in good repair and not overcrowded.

For households with disabled children, the costs associated with providing an appropriately equipped house are a particular cause for concern. The Youth Housing Working Party's report identified a number of housing issues, including the shortage of emergency accommodation for young single men, and the impact of debt on the housing choices of young people. The review of housing assistance for students is expected to have an impact in this area.

A housing work programme to meet the needs of children and young people will developed during 2005 by Housing New Zealand Corporation, Child, Youth and Family, the Ministry of Social Development and the Department of Building and Housing, in consultation with the Commissioner for Children and the Families Commission, and in alignment with the Ministry of Social Development's Family and Community Policy, and the Youth Development Strategy Aotearoa.

In 2001, nearly 90% of Māori lived in the North Island, and about 25% in the Auckland region. Māori households are likely to be larger than the population average, and Māori one-person households are uncommon (only 4.6%) although numbers are slowly increasing. In contrast, sole-parent families are relatively common. In 1996, 41% of Māori children lived in a sole-parent family, compared with 17% of New Zealand European children.

Māori homeownership fell from 52% in 1991 to 44% in 2001, due to a combination of factors including higher levels of unemployment, lower personal incomes, strong urbanisation and concentration in high-cost housing markets like Auckland. Māori are about twice as likely to live in rental accommodation as New Zealand Europeans.

Feedback during the development of the Strategy consistently emphasised that despite this, homeownership is a strong aspiration for Māori and included frustration that for many, the aspiration is not translated into reality.

For Māori with land held in multiple ownership, there is an added sense of frustration arising from the complexity of land law and title arrangements. For example, land held in multiple ownership is often not accepted as security against which to raise a mortgage.

A forthcoming research project by CHRANZ and Te Puni Kōkiri into the housing experiences and aspirations of Māori communities will assist the development of Government's work programme in this area.

Develop housing programmes specifically targeted at iwi, hapū and other Māori structures, as part of wider Māori community development programmes, including employment, health and social services so as to encompass a more holistic approach to the development of Māori land.

A housing work programme to meet the needs of Māori will be developed during 2005 by Housing New Zealand Corporation, the Department of Building and Housing and Te Puni Kōkiri .

Pacific people see homeownership as contributing to a strong economic base for the extended family to build upon. Issues that the Pacific People's Housing Working Party identified include limitations on access to homeownership and state housing, and the affordability of rental housing.

Pacific people have a greater than average likelihood of living within an extended family household, and a higher probability of living in crowded conditions. Statistics New Zealand estimated that in 2001, 27% of households with people of Pacific ethnicity experienced crowding.

Sixty-two percent of Pacific households live in rental accommodation, up from 51% in 1991. The high rental rate is matched by a low homeownership rate (36% in 2001) that results from a number of factors. These include higher unemployment rates, low personal incomes, private lenders being reluctant to consider extended family income when assessing the lending risk for mortgages, strong urbanisation, and concentration in high-cost housing markets like Auckland and Wellington.

A housing work programme to meet the needs of Pacific people will be developed during 2005 by Housing New Zealand Corporation, the Department of Building and Housing, and the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs consistent with the Ministry's Pacific Capacity Building Strategy.

Many refugee and migrant groups have specific housing needs not met by the New Zealand housing market. Large and extended families, for example, find it difficult to locate suitable houses to rent or to buy at a price they can afford.

Language and cultural barriers, and a lack of familiarity with New Zealand practices and regulatory regimes can make it hard for some ethnic households to find housing. English-speaking landlords may struggle to communicate with tenants from different cultural backgrounds, and find it easier to let to English-speaking tenants.

Some ethnic groups face discrimination from landlords or the wider community, making it hard for them to find a place where they can settle and feel secure. Fear of discrimination emerged as a real concern during consultation, along with a desire for community education to prepare communities for new ethnic groups.

The central concern of those who submitted on this area was that existing housing stock is inadequate in terms of design and supply.

A housing work programme to meet the needs of ethnic communities will be developed during 2005 by Housing New Zealand Corporation, the Department of Building and Housing, the Office of Ethnic Affairs and the Department of Labour, consistent with the National Settlement Strategy.