Smith Nick: Social Housing Reform (Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters Amendment) Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSmith Nick: Social Housing Reform (Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters Amendment) Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 16 May 2013. Volume:690;Page:10092. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister of Housing): I moveThat the Social Housing Reform (Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters Amendment) Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Social Services Committee to consider the bill. At the appropriate time I intend to move that the Social Housing Reform (Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters Amendment) Bill be reported to the House by 1 October 2013. This bill implements a substantive shift in Government housing assistance from a State housing model to a social housing model. We all know that New Zealanders are facing increased pressures from high housing costs that poor housing contributes to poor health and education outcomes for children and that the old model of massive State housing estates does not work. I want to acknowledge the work of the Housing Shareholders’ Advisory Group and its thoughtful and substantive report on which this reform is based. The easy politics in the area of Government housing assistance is just to demand that more public money be spent. A Government would never balance the books with this approach. This reform is all about getting the maximum social dividend from the Government’s investment and spending on housing assistance.The first big change is to say that the level of assistance should not be based on whether the Government owns the house. It should be based on the needs of the family the income of the family and the quality of the house. This bill enables the hundreds of millions of dollars spent each year on the income-related rent subsidy to be available to approved social housing providers. So if a high-needs family is housed by the Salvation Army an iwi the IHC Access New Zealand or the like the Government will pay the same subsidy as if it were a Housing New Zealand house. The real advantage is the capacity for these organisations to provide alongside housing support the specialist wraparound services that are support for those families. It might be family support services it might be mental health support it might be alcohol and drug support or it might be disability services. We all know that integrated support works best.A more diverse social housing sector also provides for greater innovation. We already know that community social housing providers do a better job of helping people back on to the pathway to housing independence. We are a Government that does not think all the answers lie with politicians and officials and we welcome the opportunities a more diverse social housing sector offers. I note that in Australia the community social housing sector has more than doubled in size over the past decade and nowrepresents 20 percent of its social housing. In Canada it is over 50 percent. They are getting better social outcomes than from a monolithic State house approach. We are behind the pace with a very small community social housing sector and this reform is designed to grow it.Providing housing for all our most disadvantaged and needy families is difficult for social organisations to finance. These families just cannot pay full market rents. The game-changer in this bill is that having the Government pay approved social housing providers the difference between the market rents and what can realistically be paid by those tenants makes it a far more viable proposition. This is not the only support the Government is providing to social housing providers. We know the sector is small and needs a kick-start to grow. That is why we have set aside $140 million in the Social Housing Fund to help investment in non-government social housing provision. Next week I will be announcing the next round of grants.This change of opening up the income-related rent subsidy to other social housing providers beyond Housing New Zealand requires a parallel reform. Housing New Zealand currently does the needs-assessment for families needing State housing and income-related rent. This will not work in the new multi-provider social housing system so responsibility for this role is to be transferred from Housing New Zealand to the Ministry of Social Development. This makes common sense. I can recall so many frustrated constituents who were being pushed from pillar to post from the Ministry of Social Development to Housing New Zealand as they struggled to establish whether their housing needs were best met either by a State house or by receiving the accommodation supplement. From April next year there will be only one assessment. It also makes sense that a person’s or a family’s housing need is assessed alongside their income and other social needs.The second substantive reform in this bill is the legislative provision for reviewable tenancies. This is all about ensuring we use our social housing for the people most in need. This policy approach started with new tenants from 1 July 2011 now covering 10000 of those in Housing New Zealand homes. Reviewing tenancies will now be applied to all State house tenants and tenants of community housing organisations who pay an income-related rent. The review of tenancies will be undertaken with common sense. We understand the importance of certainty for tenants particularly those with serious and long-term needs. This policy involves developing pathways to housing independence and will be focused on those tenants paying market rent. This is about social housing being available for people while they have that high housing need and as their needs change—they secure a better job the children leave the nest—they can then free up that house for a new family of higher need.The reforms in this bill need to be considered alongside Budget 2013. It should be noted that providing income-related rents for community social housing is not coming at the expense of Housing New Zealand and $27 million of additional money is being provided to fund that change. Nor is the policy of introducing reviewable tenancies a money-saver. Having high-need families replace those on market rents in State houses actually increases the cost to the Government and that is why we have set aside $47 million in the Budget for that purpose. We are also increasing the income-related rent subsidy for Housing New Zealand tenants to take into account the increase in housing costs. This bill also makes provision for the new rental Housing Warrant of Fitness scheme. To be eligible to receive an income-related rent subsidy social housing providers will need to meet certain standards.I would also note that this Government is providing for the biggest programme of new investment ever in the history of Housing New Zealand. Housing New Zealand isbudgeting to spend $2.9 billion over the next 3 years. The most ever spent in a previous year was less than half of that. This money will be spent on completing the insulating of all State houses; it will be going into Project 324&5 which is adding additional bedrooms on to three-bedroom houses which we have too many of putting extra bedrooms on 2000 of those homes; on the huge rebuild job that we have in Christchurch; on earthquake-strengthening State houses in other parts of the country that are not up to standards; and on major new redevelopments. These investments are about improving the quality of our State homes and ensuring they are the right size and in the right place.This Government’s housing policy does represent a significant change. We are far more focused on getting good outcomes rather than just simply counting the number of State houses. We are creating a more diverse and more innovative social housing sector. We make sure our support is going to the families that are in greatest need. We are focusing on the quality not just the quantity with the development of the rental housing warrant of fitness. I urge the House to support the Social Housing Reform (Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters Amendment) Bill. It is a better approach it will help more families it is well researched and it is widely supported. It is the sort of reform that all New Zealanders wanting a brighter future for their country should support. I commend the bill to the House.